‘No problem’ for PH, BN to retain 3 states, says Rafizi

August 7, 2023

‘No problem’ for PH, BN to retain 3 states, says Rafizi

PETALING JAYA: Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) will have no problem retaining Penang, Negeri Sembilan and Selangor in the Aug 12 state elections, Rafizi Ramli said.

In fact, the PKR deputy president expects an increase in votes in the three PH strongholds as the coalition now has the backing of BN’s supporters, Bernama reported.

“And that is why I see no issues in Penang, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan. The Malay votes in these three states will surpass the numbers we need to retain them,” he was quoted as saying.

Earlier today, a survey revealed that Perikatan Nasional might be able to win Selangor if there was a low voter turnout among the non-Malays and if a third of PH-BN’s Malay voters backed the opposition coalition.

Yesterday, DAP leaders issued the same warning, saying PH could lose the state if voter turnout fell below 79%.

On a related matter, Rafizi said the majority of fence-sitters from the Malay electorate in Penang wanted a political party with ideas and leaders who could solve their problems and this was what PH and BN were offering.

He was commenting on the apparent increase in Malay support for PH and BN to 42% last week from 31%.

He said PN’s only advantage was that they have politicians who like to “joke around” during their campaigns to attract voters.

“I do believe, however, that the unity coalition parties will retain Penang, but in any case, we should not take the situation lightly. We have to reach out to all of our voters, especially the non-Malays.”