Survey: BN to win Semenyih unless Harapan replicates GE14 'magic'

SEMENYIH POLLS | 

Think-tank Ilham Centre has predicted that BN will recapture the Semenyih state seat in tomorrow's by-election.

BN had controlled the seat since 1959 until the last general election.

Ilham Centre said the only way for Pakatan Harapan to retain the seat is if the "magic formula" - the same level of support and high turnout - seen during the last general election could be maintained.

The findings are based on a survey involving 378 voters. Carried out from Feb 26 to 28, it was done through random stratified sampling with an error rate of 2.15 percent.

Only 34.4 percent of the respondents accepted Harapan's candidate Muhammad Aiman Zainali. The centre also found that Harapan's campaign failed to promote him in an effective manner.

"All efforts by Aiman appear ineffective and (voters') attention is on the BN (candidate) Zakaria Hanafi. (Zakaria's) maturity as a candidate is used as a yardstick by voters," it said.

Aiman, 30, who is pursuing a PhD in electrical engineering, is the son-in-law of the late incumbent assemblyperson Bakthiar Mohd Nor. Whereas, Zakaria, 58, is a former university administrator and veteran Umno member.

Two others in the race are PSM's Nik Aziz Afiq Abdul and independent candidate Kuan Chee Heng. - Mkini