BN will lose - former deputy minister is sure

Yahya Lampong , a former deputy Transport minister, said he was convinced that Barisan Nasional would lose power at the coming 13th general election.

Yahya predicted that Pakatan Rakyat would win 118 of the total 222 parliamentary seats, while BN could be left with 104 seats.

Yahya, now a PKR member, said he arrived at such a conclusion based on what he called the "82+20+16" formula, 82 being the number of seats won by PR in 2008, 20 being BN’s parliamentary seats with non-Malay majorities while 16 being seats from Sabah.

Yahya said he was highly optimistic that Sabahans would reject BN and that more than half of parliamentary seats in the state would fall to PR.

“At least 16 out of 25 parliamentary seats will be won by PR,” he said.

Of of these, 13 are seats with majorities of Kadazan, Dusun, Murut and Chinese voters. The remaining three are 'mixed seats' namely Beaufort, Papar and Kota Belud.

In Papar and Kota Belud, Yahya pointed out that Chinese voters comprised 40 percent of total voters. As such, he said a 15 percent swing of Muslim votes could work in PR's favour.

As for Beaufort, Yahya saw no obstacle for incumbent Lajim Ukin to retain his seat. Lajim recently quit BN and declared himself a PR-friendly independent member of parliament.

“PR will only need 112 seats to form the Federal government. So, PR will be able to form the government with the support of the peoples from Peninsular and Sabah.

"Any parliamentary seats from Sarawak will be a bonus,” he added.

Earlier this month, Yahya told Harakahdaily that the three component parties that make up PR could not live without each other, a recipe he said would ensure the coalition's life.

-Harakahdaily