MERDEKA Centre’s most recent survey indicates Pakatan Harapan is closer to achieving its objective of capturing the state government of Johor.

Merdeka Centre director Ibrahim Suffian said Barisan Nasional was still maintaining its lead for now, but the opposition could close the gap next week.

Ibrahim said he could not release more detailed data yet as the survey was ongoing, but more information would be available in a few days.

“We had some 700 respondents as of last night. From the preliminary findings, we see that Pakatan has gained additional Malay votes while the Chinese votes are maintained,” he toldthe  Ikmas-Merdeka Centre forum at the University of Nottingham in Kuala Lumpur today.

“It’s going to be a close contest in the coming week. The gains are reaching a point where they’re getting closer to the threshold,” he said.

Merdeka Centre released its April 9 survey results last week, which showed Malay support for the opposition at 19.4% and Chinese and Indian support at 77.6% and 32.7%, respectively.

Pakatan needs at least 20% of the Malay vote and 80% of the Chinese vote to win Johor, Merdeka had said. – May 2, 2018.