Pakatan to throw Johor's BIGGEST DINNER PARTY: Violence won't stop us - Jui Meng

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim is perturbed by the spate of political thuggery and violence displayed by BN supporters who have thrown paint at his tour bus, stopped his convoy and even roped in the police to arrest his bodyguard for attempting to protect him.

But he is not going to let the threats stop him from his nationwide tour to reach out to voters ahead of the 13th general election, which may be held as early as November this year.

All eyes are now on Anwar's next tour destination - Johor, the birth place of Umno and the BN's stronghold.

Given the near manic reaction of the Malacca Umno-BN supporters who waylaid his bus convoy over the weekend, a sizzling encounter can be expected when Anwar begins his Jelajah Bas (Anwar Ibrahim's Bus Tour) to Johor this Friday, September 14.

"No change in plans at all," PKR Johor chief Chua Jui Meng told Malaysia Chronicle.

"Anwar will visit several towns together with other Pakatan Rakyat leaders and at night, we will throw the biggest ever outdoor dinner party Johor has ever seen. This is to thank the people in the state for the great interest and support they have given to us during our ceramahs over the past year."

Already, 800 tables have planned and fully taken up. The dinner, organized by Jui Meng's division, is to be held at the car park of the Sutera Mall in Skudai. Anwar's final itinerary is not released yet but the tour is likely to begin in Ledang at 11am.

Very vulnerable

Johor, along with Negri Sembilan, Sabah and Sarawak are deemed to be the 4 states on the BN's most vulnerable lists. The Pakatan is expected to make huge inroads in these four states during GE13.

Johor has 26 parliamentary seats and 56 state assembly seats. In the 2008 general election, the Johor BN lost only one parliamentary seat and 6 state seats. It has contributed a lot in keeping the BN in power, hence its tag as being the Umno-BN's "fortress".

But the situation has soured greatly for the BN since then. Not only has Umno been losing favor with the Malays, but BN compnents MCA, Gerakan and MIC may face total annihilation in GE13 as disgusted voters continued to flee its ranks.

"To get an idea of how vulnerable Johor is, all you need to do is to look at the number of seats held by MCA, MIC and Gerakan here. The rest are held by Umno and if you have been attending the Pakatan ceramahs and observing the huge Malay turnout, then you will understand Umno's panic," said Jui Meng.

"It is also telling that PAS is confident enough to deploy its vice president Salahuddin Ayub to contest a state seat here so that in the event Pakatan wins Johor, Salahuddin will be the Pakatan's chief minister designate."

7 of the 15 parliamentary seats and 12 of the 35 state seats of the MCA are in Johor. As for the Gerakan, one of its two parliamentary seats and 2 of its four state seats are in Johor. Similarly for the MIC, one of its three parliamentary seats and four of its seven state seats are in Johor. The rest are held by UMNO.

Malaysia Chronicle