This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on July 6, 2026 - July 12, 2026

IN Perling (N46), the yellow flags of Parti Bersama Malaysia, featuring a Sang Kancil, are competing against the banners of the two large coalitions — Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional — for attention.

The political party, co-founded two months ago by two former senior leaders of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) — Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli, former deputy president, and Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad — is contesting 15 seats in the state polls on July 11.

Although there are doubts that they could win even a single seat, Bersama is seen as one of the wild cards at play in the 16th Johor election and upcoming general elections.

Even if Bersama were to win all 15 seats — a highly unlikely scenario — it would not have enough to form the state government.

Nonetheless, Bersama’s participation is expected to disrupt the calculations of the big players: Pakatan Harapan (PH), Barisan Nasional (BN) and Perikatan Nasional (PN).

BN is the incumbent in eight of the seats Bersama is contesting, while PH holds six.

It is also standing in Puteri Wangsa (N41), previously held by the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda). That contest will be a five-cornered fight.

“As this is Bersama’s debut, its passing marks are low,” says Dr Wong Chin Huat, political scientist at Sunway University. He explains that passing marks mean candidates keeping their deposits and, ideally, some garnering more Malay votes than PH.

“Can some of them significantly call out the disgruntled voters who are unhappy with PH, BN and PN? If they fail to achieve these, then Bersama may be easily labelled as ‘spoiler’ and blamed if PH does badly.

“If they do, even without winning, more voters will take them seriously,” says Wong.

At a “ceramah truck Kancil” in Masai, the crowd was smaller than Rafizi’s PH rallies in 2018 or 2022, but still reflected a mixed racial composition.

Attendees were diverse in age: about 10% elderly, the most were middle-aged, and youth accompanying parents or grandparents. For Rafizi, the receptions have been encouraging.

“The challenge with campaigning is that most probably you only get to meet less than 10% of the voters. Even that is very high. Most probably you only get to meet 5%. So, you can’t tell whether that’s representative of what the voters feel.

“But based on the ceramah that we do, based on when we do walk about, it’s not that much different than the kind of reception that I used to get when we were campaigning for PH. So, you know, it’s going okay,” he tells The Edge after the Masai event.

In a nutshell, Bersama’s aim is to build momentum for the next general election, which could be called as early as later this year.

“At this stage, I would say Bersama is more likely to influence the electoral dynamics than to emerge as a decisive electoral force across Johor,” says Prof Datuk Dr Sivamurugan Pandian, political sociology professor at the Universiti Sains Malaysia. “Johor could serve as an important test of Bersama’s long-term viability.”

Therefore, if most candidates of Bersama do not lose their deposits, it would mean that there is traction for Rafizi’s political experiment.

However, Dr James Chin, political analyst and professor of Asian Studies at the University of Tasmania, believes Bersama has yet to gain traction. “But this is normal. The first week people test the waters with issues, whatever it is. The second week is when everything happens — the mega rallies, the big names [coming down to help with campaigning] and everything.

“So, I’m not surprised that it is quite quiet in Johor now. All the actions will start next week as we head towards polling day on Saturday [July 11].”

One thing for sure is that those following Bersama’s campaign trail in Johor are those who are fed up with the politics of horse trading and compromise by the major coalitions, especially PH.

“I have been following Rafizi’s podcast and talks, and I think his approach to not compromise on certain issues is something that I believe in,” a Malay chap in his early 30s comments when asked about his view on Bersama at the Masai ceramah.

A Chinese couple say they are disappointed with the DAP, who they feel has abandoned its base just to stay in power, by not speaking up for the Chinese community.

“Why hasn’t the DAP said anything, championing our interests?” they ask. “So now I’m going to support Bersama, as I like Rafizi. He says what he thinks.” 

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