Muhyiddin's influence insufficient to capture Johor, says think tank

GE14 | The influence of Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin in Johor is insufficient to capture the state, for Pakatan Harapan in the forthcoming 14th general election, a Selangor think-tank predicted today.

Institut Darul Ehsan chief executive Prof Redzuan Othman said one factor it has identified is Muhyiddin being seen as less influential compared with Harapan chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is also Bersatu chairperson.

"Mahathir's influence can bring down (BN in) Kedah but Muhyiddin's influence (in Johor) is not equal to Mahathir," Redzuan told reporters after presenting the findings of IDE's "Malaysia Survey 2018" that polled 4,920 respondents nationwide from March 23 to March 26. 

"Bersatu is still seen as being Mahathir's party," he said, adding that Muhyiddin, in the days after he was sacked from Umno, was also seen as being indecisive and less charismatic when compared with Mahathir.

Bersatu is set to lead Harapan's quest to capture Johor while the other component parties have also announced intentions to field their big guns against BN in the state.

However, during his earlier presentation, Redzuan (photo), did not release state-specific data for Johor or Kedah, although he predicted that the northern state could fall to the opposition.

'BN's popular support has peaked'

Based on the survey, Redzuan said IDE found that popular support for BN has peaked at 42 percent.

He said this was based on findings of the March survey, which it contrasted with an earlier study conducted last August.

On the other hand, he said popular support for Harapan had increased from 33 percent to 41 percent, while support for PAS had dropped from 18 percent to 13 percent.

"The percentage of undecided voters has also decreased from seven percent to four percent," Redzuan said.

Aside from Kedah, he predicted that Harapan could also stand a chance to win two more states - Malacca and Negeri Sembilan - while Penang and Selangor would be retained.

At the same time, he said, PAS has a 50-50 chance of retaining Kelantan and the deciding factor could be out of state voters returning to cast their ballots.

"PAS has the potential, but BN is rallying close to winning the state," Redzuan said, adding that a mere five percent vote swing would be enough to topple the PAS government of Kelantan. - Mkini