ISKANDAR PUTERI – Pakatan Harapan (PH) could form the federal government on its own if it bags 100 of the 165 parliamentary seats in the peninsula come polling day on Saturday.
Johor DAP chairman Liew Chin Tong said a recent study by independent pollster Merdeka Centre found that the coalition can win up to 91 parliamentary seats in Peninsular Malaysia.
The former deputy defence minister added that the study showed that Perikatan Nasional (PN) could secure 47 parliamentary seats in the peninsula while 26 seats could go to Barisan Nasional (BN).
The Vibes however could not independently verify the study Liew was referring to.
“Although this might just be (another) survey, this may be a point of reference for us that we could achieve these goals, while it may indicate that BN will be rejected by the rakyat,” Liew told The Vibes here today.
“Although the 100 seats may seem a bit hard to achieve, there are possibilities that we can.”
Liew, who is DAP’s strategist, said winning 100 seats alone will render the question moot about who will partner with PH to form the federal government.
“History has shown that in 2018 (the previous general election), PH won 98 seats in the peninsula, six in Sabah, and 10 in Sarawak. The total seats that we won was 114, not including the eight won by (former PH ally) Warisan.”
Any coalition that has at least 112 parliamentary seats in Parliament achieves a simple majority.
Liew is aiming to make a parliamentary comeback following his 2018 defeat at the hands of MCA president Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong in Ayer Hitam.
Wee won the seat with a razor-thin 303-vote majority in a three-cornered contest also involving PAS candidate Mardi Marwan.
Liew will face BN’s Datuk Jason Teoh and PN’s Jashen Tan for the Iskandar Puteri seat, which was won by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang in 2018.
In the last general election, PH, through Lim, won the seat easily against Teoh with a majority of 44,864 votes.
Iskandar Puteri has a large ethnic-Chinese electorate, making up 47% of the total voters here, followed by Malays (38%), Indians (14%), and other ethnicities (1.1%).
Liew was met by The Vibes at the Kita Boleh ceramah at the TJ Food Centre, a popular breakfast eatery in Taman Ungku Tun Aminah, Skudai.
More than 100 supporters and DAP members attended the ceramah, which also featured DAP’s Johor Jaya assemblyman Liow Cai Tung and incumbent Damansara MP Tony Pua.
Pua’s harping on BN’s poster-boy ‘drama’
During his speech, Pua sarcastically asked the audience whether they believed that caretaker prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob would be reappointed after the general election.
“I don’t even believe that Ismail Sabri himself believed that he would be appointed,” Pua said in jest, which drew laughter from the audience.
Previously, Pejuang chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad cast doubt over Ismail Sabri being prime minister should BN win the election.
He claimed that the post would be assumed by BN chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. – The Vibes, November 14, 2022
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