GEORGE TOWN: Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Muhyiddin Yassin is confident that a near-majority win in Penang is within reach despite anticipating an uphill battle for the coalition in the upcoming state election.
Saying that PN could win “nearly 20” state seats, the Bersatu president urged coalition members to work extra hard to win one more seat for a simple majority in the 40-seat legislature.
“We need only 21 (seats) to do this. Now, it is almost 20.
“So if we want to win, we just need a bit more effort. Just one more per cent of your power,” he said in rallying supporters at the Penang PN convention held at the state Gerakan headquarters here.
Muhyiddin said while a state-level win would not change anything at the national level, the impact from a six-state win would reverberate throughout the country.
“This would ease our takeover of the federal government in the future, God-willing,” he said.
Earlier, state PN Youth chief Zuzalee Ariffin revealed that based on the coalition’s research, 55% of Penang Malays supported PN, while 28% backed Barisan Nasional and 15% were with Pakatan Harapan.
He added that 93% of the Chinese in Penang supported PH, with 1% backing PN and 5% supporting BN. Indians were also largely with PH at 84%, with 12% of the community backing BN and 4% supporting PN.
“We just need a little swing from the Chinese and Indian voters to win. In fact, to win in Penang, we have to work hard on winning over Chinese votes,” he said.
Zuzalee also claimed that the state PN’s rally call, “Penang try Kalih” (Try to change, Penang) has recorded high levels of support on TikTok, with 11 million hashtag mentions.
In the 2018 general election (GE14), PH won 37 state seats, with BN winning two and PAS one.
In GE14, Bersatu won four seats – Bertam, Seberang Jaya, Sungai Acheh and Teluk Bahang – when their candidates stood under the PH banner. All four assemblymen subsequently lost their seats under the state anti-hopping law. Their seats remain vacant.
Hence, PN is currently left with one seat, Penaga, held by PAS.
Previously, a PN insider told FMT that 15 Malay-majority seats in the state would likely go to PN, as inroads have been made and the youths are receptive to supporting the coalition.
