Johor polls: BN confident of attracting Chinese voters - Ahmad Maslan

JOHOR BAHRU: Barisan Nasional (BN) is confident of being able to get Chinese voters to vote in its favour in the Johor state election, thus achieving the target of forming a more stable government if given the mandate by the people.

UMNO secretary-general Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan said this was based on his observations and experience as a Pontian Member of Parliament, where most voters from the group expressed a desire to support the coalition.

"I have seen it myself that the Chinese community wants to return to BN. In Johor, the Chinese community comprises 37 per cent of the electorate.

"When this group of voters feel that they do not trust Pakatan Harapan (PH) especially, that they want to return to BN, this is a sign that in this Johor polls, BN has a good chance," he told Bernama.

He also added that most of the Chinese community expressed frustration with the PH administration for failing to fulfil its promises to develop the state constituencies won during the 14th General Election (GE14).

On the BN candidate in the upcoming polls, he said although BN featured more than 70 per cent new faces, each candidate had experience in the political arena.

"Looking at the list of candidates, I am happy because our choice is almost similar to the Melaka state election, and when there are similarities, there is a possibility of repeating the victory in Melaka, here in Johor. That is our hope because what we did in Melaka was brave and we are doing it in Johor," he said.

Yesterday, BN chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said there were more than 70 per cent new faces as candidates in the Johor polls and more than 80 per cent of the candidates for the 56 state seats are of those with high academic qualifications and possessed the required criteria, using the concepts of winnability, acceptability and likeability.

BN will be fielding 37 candidates from UMNO, MCA (15) and MIC (four) in the Johor polls with the nomination process to take place tomorrow, while polling day is on March 12 and early voting is on March 8.

In another development, Ahmad said the UMNO General Assembly 2021 was not postponed and will take place according to the schedule, which is on March 16 to 19.

Previously, UMNO had scheduled the assembly for three days from Jan 13 to 15 but was postponed to March 16 to 19 following the floods that hit several states earlier this year.

-- BERNAMA