Umno supporters likely to vote for PN, says KJ

SHAH ALAM - Former Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin has predicted that some of the party's supporters may opt to vote for Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidates as a form of disagreement with Supreme Council Member Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan's request.

Khairy said instead of urging Umno voters to support candidates from DAP, Ahmad, the Pontian MP should have encouraged them to support the candidate representing the Unity Government.

"My current observation is that at least 50 percent of Malay voters who have been supporting Umno will vote for PN and that number may increase.

"(The statement) Support the candidate representing the Unity Government for political stability, the voters would have understood. There is no need to say support for DAP because it is a statement that hurts the hearts of the Malays, especially Umno," he said in the podcast 'Keluar Sekejap' today.

Previously, the media reported that Ahmad had asked voters to vote for DAP candidates in areas where Barisan Nasional (BN) was not contesting in order to strengthen the position of the Unity Government.

In the meantime, Khairy explained that he understood the context that Ahmad wanted to convey, which is Pakatan Harapan (PH) and BN are now an opponent of PN.

"In that context, Ahmad said Umno had to support DAP in the hope that DAP would support Umno so that it would be a one-for-one vote.

"However, will voters, Umno supporters support the candidate representing the Unity Government or because of the presence of DAP as a strategic partner in this new configuration?," he said.

Meanwhile, Khairy, the former health minister believes that PH's current composition is beneficial to BN in terms of support.

"PH is more useful to BN (because) PH voters who do not support BN are smaller in number compared to Umno voters who do not support PH. PH voters will not vote for PN.

"Non-Malays will not give their votes to Pas and Umno voters are likely to give to PN," he said.

Meanwhile, Umno's former information chief Shahril Hamdan said that Umno may be one of the parties that will lose many seats in the upcoming PRN.

"Umno will lose in the northern part of Selangor but they will retain existing PH seats such as in Damansara," said Shahril.

He said the state polls may see PH retaining their seats while BN losing their seats.