BN has the edge if voter turnout low, admits Amanah No 2

 

Salahuddin Ayub said aside from a low voter turnout, the split in Malay votes could hurt his chances of retaining the Simpang Jeram seat.

BAKRI: Amanah deputy president Salahuddin Ayub admits that Pakatan Harapan (PH) will have a mountain to climb in trying to win the Johor state elections if voter turnout is low this Saturday.

Citing the outcome of the Melaka polls, Salahuddin said Barisan Nasional (BN) will have the edge if that happens since the coalition had “core voters” who consistently cast their ballots.

“If the percentage of those who go out to vote is low like in Melaka, then BN has a better chance of winning in Johor. I’m hoping that the voter turnout is at the 70% to 75% level as it would give PH a better chance of victory,” he said in an interview with FMT.

Having said that, he was confident that the percentage of voters who cast their ballots in Johor would be higher than Melaka, which saw a final tally of 65.85% voter turnout.

Salahuddin, who is seeking to defend his Simpang Jeram seat, expressed confidence Amanah would be able to retain the nine seats it won in GE14, despite its dismal performance in Melaka and Sarawak.

In the past two state elections, Amanah had only won one seat which was Bukit Katil in Melaka.

“For both PKR or Amanah, our defeat in Sarawak was not an indicator of our influence at the national level. The voter turnout in Sarawak was even lower, just 60%. So it cannot be used as a yardstick.

“If voter turnout stands at 70% to 75%, I predict that Amanah would at least be able to retain the nine seats. If we can keep these seats, I think that’s already good enough for Amanah’s future.”

The Pulai MP added that it would be no easy task to defend his Simpang Jeram seat, admitting that he needed to continue working hard to win over voters.

“We can’t think that it’ll be a guaranteed win just because I won with a big majority (in 2018). Many factors must be taken into consideration, such as the splitting of Malay votes and the possibility of a low voter turnout.”

In GE14, Salahuddin won the seat with 14,640 votes for a 7,687 majority over the BN candidate, who got 6,953 votes. PAS also contested, getting 2,136 votes. - FMT