BERA, Nov 10 — Barisan Nasional (BN) is confident that it can win more than 112 parliamentary seats in the 15th General Election (GE15) to form the new federal government.
Caretaker Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, said that according to the latest information on BN’s GE15 campaign trail presented at the UMNO Top Five briefing session in Kuala Lumpur earlier today, there is a very positive acceptance among voters for BN.
The UMNO Top Five refers to President Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Deputy President Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan and three vice-presidents, namely Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, Ismail Sabri himself and Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid.
Ismail Sabri said even though BN would be able to form a government with that 112 seats, he still believed that BN would not be doing so on its own, but rather with Friends of BN from Sabah and Sarawak to ensure that it will be a more stable government.
“We need a stronger government. We need our friends in Sabah and Sarawak to join us and we do hope that their support will strengthen our new government.
“Although having 112 seats will enable BN to form the government as there will no longer be party hopping among the elected representatives, we still want a government with stronger support to ensure stability and wellbeing of the country,” he told a press conference after attending a meet-and-greet programme at Kampung Batu Bor here today.
Ismail Sabri said during the briefing session, it was also reported that the mood of voters had improved towards supporting BN, be it among those in the rural and urban areas, as well as among the non-Malays.
“The voters are also seen comparing the performance of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government after the 2018 General Election with the success of BN’s administration before that. So, they are more confident that BN is capable of taking the country to a greater height,” he said.
On the sentiment of young voters, Ismail Sabri said BN is intensifying its engagement session with the group to explain what BN is offering them, apart from guiding them on the polling process as the majority of them are first-time voters.
In the GE15, Ismail Sabri is defending the Bera parliamentary seat, which he had held since 2004. He is being challenged by Abas Awang (PH) and Asmawi Harun (PN-Bersatu).
The Election Commission has set the polling on Nov 19 and early voting on Nov 15.
