ON the last day of campaigning, Barisan Nasional acting deputy chairman Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi finally made his first stop in Johor, one of the closest fought states in this 14th general election.

Zahid’s appearance this late into the campaigning period appears to have been a last-minute arrangement, fuelling speculation that the ruling coalition is worried about projections by think-tanks, such as Ilham Centre and Merdeka Centre, about the drop in Malay support for BN in the state.

Merdeka Centre said its latest poll conducted from April 9-16 showed that Malay support for BN dropped by 20.9%, to 60.9%. Malay support for BN was estimated to be around 81.8% in the last elections.

However, his brief stop was only limited to Segamat and Muar – two marginal seats in Johor. In 2013, MIC chief Dr S. Subramaniam retained Segamat by a mere 3%, while Umno’s Razali Ibrahim defended Muar by 4%.

In Muar, Zahid kept his speech simple and urged the Umno grassroots workers to ignore projections and polls.

“Forget the projections and predictions on the other side and let’s focus on our own work,” he told the BN machinery consisting of mainly Umno Wanita representatives.

“We were surprised in GE12 and we started late in GE13. So, let us redeem our pride these elections,” he said at the Umno office in Muar.

The caretaker deputy prime minister kept his message brief but managed to launch a quick attack on former colleague Muhyiddin Yassin, who is contesting as the Bersatu candidate in Pagoh.

“Muar is so strong that the other person did not want to contest here although he has many relatives here,” said Zahid, referring to earlier rumours that Muhyiddin was considering contesting in Muar.

At the press conference, Zahid limited his statement to recounting the benefits and advancements BN leader Najib Razak had brought compared with his rival Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Najib, incidentally, has not made any stops at Johor, long considered to be an Umno stronghold. – May 8, 2018.