JOHOR BARU: The general election should be called as soon as possible to avoid the opposition from spreading more ‘lies’ concerning Barisan Nasional, says an Umno supreme council member here.
Isham Jalil said that he is in full support of Barisan coalition chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s call for the next election to be held immediately.
“I agree with his statement. The longer we wait, the lower our chances of winning would be. If we wait any longer, Pakatan and Perikatan Nasional will come out with more lies that we need to counter.
“This will affect our good momentum from the several state elections previously and we may be defensive. That is what they (the opposition) want,” he said.
He said this to the press when met after attending a dialogue session at Bandar Baru Uda here on Saturday (Aug 20).
Earlier, Ahmad Zahid said that delaying the general election means giving “ammunition” to the Opposition to attack Barisan Nasional.
He added that Umno leaders and the grassroots were confident that it was timely to hold the polls this year, and further postponement could risk a defeat.
On a separate matter, Isham said that the implementation of Undi18 would be an advantage instead of a disadvantage for Barisan.
“If we look at the trend during the Johor state election, we found that we have won the votes of between 70% to 80% of those voting at the young people lanes.
“This is a 180 degree change compared to during the previous general election where they did not support us but this has changed in the past by-elections and state elections.
“They are not keen on parties that cannot live up to their manifesto and politicians who are jumping from one party to another,” he said.
He said that Barisan also has better chances of wooing voters from the urban areas this time around as many are frustrated with the previous Pakatan and Perikatan governments.
“Those living in the city areas are those who are most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and the policies made under the Pakatan and Perikatan governments.
“I believe we will have better chances of winning the votes of those from urban areas in the next election,” he said.