Ibrahim Ali: BN will win GE14 despite people 'rejecting' Najib

Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali predicts that BN will retain federal power in the next general election, despite the ruling coalition suffering from a crisis of confidence.

Citing surveys, the veteran politician claimed that 90 percent of the people rejected Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

"Everybody rejects Najib. But at the same time, they (the analysts) also say BN will not lose. Isn't this strange?” he asked in an interview with Malaysiakini and Free Malaysia Today (FMT).

Ibrahim said this is because the outcome of the next general election does not depend on issues alone.

"When it comes to an election, there are many factors, including machineries and campaign tactics that benefit BN, which controls the media and government, police and armed forces, and also the varied voters' backgrounds," he explained.

Last Saturday, former finance minister Daim Zainuddin was reported as saying that the government should urgently address the confidence crisis among Malaysians, which he claimed was at a "chronic level".

According to Daim, the crisis should be swiftly dealt with as without the people's support, it would be difficult for the government to resolve more pressing issues.

Commenting on this, Ibrahim said while there was some truth in Daim's remarks, it would not lead to a shift of votes from BN towards the opposition.

"Yes, there is a crisis, a crisis of confidence like what Daim mentioned that has caused the rakyat to reject BN.

"If people reject BN because of increasing prices, 1MDB or (other) crises, that is true. But at the same time, even though they are unhappy, they will still not vote for the opposition, which is also in disarray," he added.

Furthermore, the former Pasir Mas MP said, a BN victory would also be aided by its "fixed deposit" among rural voters.

"For instance in the Felda seats, rural seats with Malays who still depend on the government... Najib is clever, RM200, RM300, RM500 for rubber tappers, for fishermen.

"That is why, in the next election, the votes can swing (towards BN) by another five percent," he argued.- Mkini