UMNO members are asked not to be deceived by the findings of a survey which touched on the potential of Barisan Nasional (BN) to win the 14th general election (GE14), said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

He said the random survey by certain quarters in the opposition party was conducted as though UMNO and BN could still rule the country after the general election just to topple the party.

"We should not be trapped by the findings of the survey because there is a hidden agenda (behind it) which makes us complacent that we will continue to rule the country and they (the opposition) want us to not to work hard," he said when opening the Batu Pahat UMNO delegates meeting here on Friday.

Ahmad Zahid, who is also UMNO vice-president, said the general election machinery should look into what the opposition party was trying to do.

"They (the opposition) conducted random survey by phone and the findings were publicly disclosed. We know that the survey was not for transparency but to show as if UMNO and BN can still rule the country," he said.

Meanwhile Ahmad Zahid, who is also Home Minister, said BN candidates in the upcoming general election needed to have 'winnable' and 'likeable' characters and not necessarily among those who were part of the leadership.

He said such an approach in selecting candidates was proven during by-elections in Kuala Kangsar, Sungai Besar and Tanjung Datu.

"A candidate must be likeable. So, don't be surprised if someone is chosen even though that person does not hold any position," he said.

Ahmad Zahid said a study by a university revealed that 85 per cent of the winning factors were contributed by the candidate's factor and the rest were other factors.

Therefore, he advised the branch and division leaders to accept the decision if they were not being selected as candidates.

On the Batu Pahat UMNO machinery, Ahmad Zahid wanted them to work hard to win the hearts of the voters especially the fence-sitters and to recapture the Batu Pahat parliamentary seat from the opposition.

According to the survey, he said nine per cent of the voters in the parliamentary constituency were fence-sitters while in Penggaram state constituency (1.5 per cent), Senggarang (7.3 per cent) and Rengit (4.2 per cent).

-- BERNAMA