Johor BN to meet after survey projects only 35-seat victory

JOHOR BAHRU: Leaders of Johor Barisan Nasional are expected to hold a pow-wow tomorrow morning after its latest internal research projected a lower victory margin than expected at next month’s state assembly election.

A BN leader told FMT the coalition had initially set an election victory target of 40-42 seats in the 56-seat state assembly. However, “our latest research shows we could win 35 seats,” he said. “The meeting is about how we can push that number above 40.”

The leader said discussions would focus on winning over urban Indian and Chinese voters, who are expected to back Pakatan Harapan and Bersama.

“We need to assess the situation post nomination day. Our concern is the urban seats,” said the source, who asked not to be named. He acknowledged that the 1MDB corruption scandal continued to influence urban voters.

“Urban voters are still concerned about corruption,” he said, but questioned whether there had been any corruption cases involving Johor BN.

He rejected claims of racism levelled against state BN chief Onn Hafiz Ghazi after he was reported as saying he would rather not remain menteri besar than govern Johor with DAP.

He said the Johor state government had appointed more than 150 Chinese leaders to city and town councils, 20 to 30 Chinese community leaders, about 50 Indian members to local councils, and 10 Indian community leaders.

“We have also been consistently engaging the Indian community and working to resolve issues involving illegal Hindu temples. So how can BN be racist?” he said, adding that Johor BN had been multiracial “from day one”.