PAS bullish on PR victory in Johor

PAS vice president Salahuddin Ayub is confident that Pakatan Rakyat will win at least 12 parliamentary seats in Johor to help the coalition's march to Putrajaya.

Salahuddin attributed this to overwhelming support for PR from the Chinese community, which he said has now breached 85 percent based on recent study.

“After a year of ground works in Johor, I am confident that PR will win 12 parliamentary seats in Johor,” said Salahuddin.

Salahuddin was recently announced as a candidate for the Pulai parliamentary seat, where UDA Holdings chairman Nur Jazlan from UMNO is the incumbent.

Salahuddin said PR would now require a slight increase in Malay support in order to get a simple majority to rule Johor.

“That is why, (interim PM) Najib (Razak) delayed the dissolution, because he knows Johor is no longer safe to BN,” he added.

On East Malaysia, Salahuddin said Sabah could potentially contribute another 15 parliament seats to PR, along with 10 from Sarawak.

“By this extrapolation, we can reach Putrajaya,” he said confidently.

Meanwhile, analysts said PAS’s decision to place its vice president Husam Musa in Putrajaya has been intensely discussed within the civil service community who form the bulk of voters there.

“Why will someone like Husam take such big risk? Same goes to (DAP advisor) Lim Kit Siang, who will be contesting in Gelang Patah and Salahuddin to Pulai. They are battling at UMNO-BN’s strongholds. Why?" asked Harakahdaily's political analyst Li Fook Gao.

"Other than the belief that UMNO-BN will fall at the coming election, there is not much explanation to it,” he added. -HD