Stay out of Johor polls if you want BN to lose, PN told

 

Amanah communications director Khalid Samad hoped Perikatan Nasional would not repeat its vote-splitting role in the Johor polls.

PETALING JAYA: Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad has told Perikatan Nasional (PN) to stay out of the upcoming Johor state elections if it wants Barisan Nasional (BN) to lose.

In a statement today, the Amanah MP said PN “holds the key to BN’s defeat” in the state elections, and accused the coalition of being “a tool of BN to help split anti-BN votes”.

He cited the Melaka polls as an example, where he said PN candidates caused a split in votes.

This helped BN to win the state elections by grabbing nearly two-thirds of the seats despite getting only 38% of the popular vote. BN won 21 out of the 28 seats contested, while Pakatan Harapan (PH) won five, followed by two seats for PN.

“This situation might be seen as an odd one, but that was the reality.

“BN’s win happened because the anti-BN votes were split between PH and PN — PH got 37% and PN 25% of the popular vote.

“PN split the ‘anti-BN votes’, This was expected by the BN strategists.

“When the vote is split, BN will win despite its unpopularity among the majority of the voters.

“PN has to admit that it is going to repeat this vote-splitting role in Johor. In the end, BN will win. This is going to be the same story for the coming general election (GE15),” he added.

Khalid stressed that if PN stayed out of the Johor elections, the anti-BN votes would be consolidated and BN could be defeated.

The Johor state elections are set to take place on March 12, with 56 seats up for grabs. Nominations will be on Feb 26. - FMT