Johor polls a different scenario, BN cautious in predicting outcome - Mohamad

MERSING: With three days of campaigning left before voters in Johor go to the polls, Barisan Nasional (BN) is taking a cautious approach in its prediction of the seats it is confident of winning.

BN deputy chairman Datuk Seri Mohamad Hassan said this is due to Johor's vast geographical area and population diversity, which made the outcome much more difficult to predict.

"It was much clearer in the Melaka election as 23 of the 28 seats up for grabs had a Malay-majority electorate, so it was easier for me to make a prediction. However, in Johor, the population is diverse in each seat.

"Another factor would be the fact that for the first time, there are those automatically registered as voters. I think they number about 750,000, with at least 6,000 of them in each constituency."

"In fact, there are seats in which with 30,000 to 40,000 first-time voters. So, this has given us a signal that we have to be cautious in coming out with an accurate prediction," he said when met by reporters at the Mersing UMNO headquarters here today.

Mohamad said BN will conduct its second dry run for the polls tomorrow to get a clearer picture of winnable seats.

Meanwhile, Mohamad, who is BN election director for the Johor polls, was confident that the Endau seat can be wrested by BN as it had long been a traditional seat for the coalition, although he cautioned the election machinery there not to rest on its laurels.

The UMNO deputy president, however, did express his confidence that BN was capable of retaining eight seats in the East Coast Zone, namely Endau, Tenggaroh, Panti, Pasir Raja, Sedili, Johor Lama, Penawar and Tanjung Surat.

He said the final three days of campaigning were crucial to ensure a convincing BN victory.

On rival parties using the 'court cluster' as fodder to attack BN since the Melaka polls itself, Mohamad said this has not affected the coalition's chances to secure victory.

"We are not like some others who speak about integrity cases whereby dropped just like that, so who is the one with integrity now? Do not also talk about integrity when your party is full of political frogs, so what is this integrity they are talking about.

"I am appealing to Johor voters to once again give BN the mandate as only BN can deliver political stability," he said.

-- BERNAMA