Daim's prediction: Kedah and Perak will probably fall

GE14 | Former finance minister Daim Zainuddin has predicted that BN will likely lose grip of Kedah and Perak, come May 9.

In an interview with Nanyang Siang Pau, Daim said this will happen if Pakatan Harapan fulfills certain conditions, including having the right leaders.

"(In Kedah) with Tun M (Dr Mahathir Mohamad) and Mukhriz Mahathir (at the helm), should they run the campaign properly, probably (BN) would lose," he said.

In Perak, Daim said BN was facing a stiff challenge and Harapan nominated the right candidate for menteri besar, they will win.

He also predicted that BN has a "50-50" chance of retaining Johor and Sabah.

"Sabah has changed government many times, remember? Last time it was Mustapha Harun (Usno government). Then it was Harris Salleh (Berjaya government).

"Every 10 years, they change (government). After Harris it was Pairin Kitingan (PBS government)," he said.

He said that after the Kitingan-administration, BN took the reign and introduced a two-year rotational chief ministership model.

"I think the mood in Sabah (now) is also for change," he said.

Since late 2007, the "Daim prophecies" have accurately predicted that BN would lose in Kedah, Selangor, Kelantan and Penang in the 12th general election.

For the following election, he predicted that BN would retake Kedah if it would find the right leader. Kedah BN eventually won with Mukhriz Mahathir at the helm, only to be removed three years later.

This time around, Daim does not predict that BN has a chance of winning in Penang and Selangor.

As for Negeri Sembilan, he said Pakatan Harapan has a slim chance of winning should they nominate the right menteri besar candidate.

Over at Malacca, Daim said Harapan was facing an uphill battle and only credible candidates could threaten BN there.

As for who would ultimately take Putrajaya, he said an overall vote swing of 10 percent would result in a change of federal government, even without a "Malay tsunami".

Although Daim did not elaborate on this, the 10 percent vote swing he was referring to would likely encompass Sabah and Sarawak as well, which is often ignored by pollsters due to logistical reasons.

Daim told Nanyang Siang Pau that his predictions were not exactly science and that he was not in the business of predicting election results.

Instead, he relied on research by thinktanks, political contacts, media practitioners, taxi drivers, media reports, surau, WhatsApp and coffeeshop talk. - Mkini