VOTERS should not be influenced by the predictions or findings of independent survey bodies on the sentiment of voters’ acceptance of Barisan Nasional (BN), which they claimed was trailing in the 15th general election (GE15) as they are only propaganda of certain parties.

Caretaker prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the findings, which were widely circulated on social media, could also be seen as psychological warfare by the opposition parties to attract voters, especially those who are still sitting on the fence, to support them.

“The predictions are propaganda and we have to see which direction they tend to incline to. Every party is engaging a company to conduct its respective survey, so if they (involved companies) are paid by the relevant parties, then their reports would be seen as getting more support for the party),” he said at a press conference after attending the Mengkarak Sembang Santai Programme in Bera today.

“For me, we should not be influenced (by the findings of the studies.”

Ismail said this when asked to comment on several reports of independent bodies and observers predicting the people’s acceptance of political parties contesting GE15, and they claimed that BN was lagging behind in winning parliamentary seats compared to its rivals.

Ismail, who is also BN’s Bera parliamentary seat candidate, said for the final phase of the GE15 campaign, the BN machinery needs to further promote the offers outlined in the manifesto, especially on social media, to ensure that the people remain supportive of the coalition.

He said the effort to “sell BN products” besides working hard to counter and explain to the people regarding accusations or propaganda thrown by the opposition needs to be strengthened, including on social media because the platform involves a lot of young people.

“Young people’s sentiment and support for BN is improving in Bera as well as the reports I received from other places. To reach out to young people, BN needs to dominate because young voters depend on social media (to find out about current developments). Lies by opposing parties in the media social can influence them,” he said.

Ismail also said BN cannot be comfortable in GE15 and must continue to work hard to convince the voters, especially in the last moments of the campaigning period because various possibilities can happen.

“Don’t be complacent, no one can declare that they are sure winners, including myself. We can no longer be comfortable after the 14th general election, which at the beginning said BN would win, could get a majority but in the end, it didn’t,” he said.

Asked about BN’s potential in Pahang, Ismail is optimistic that BN will continue to lead the administration of the state. – Bernama, November 16, 2022.