Pakatan projects breaching 100 MP mark, but BN spending dampens hopes

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MT COLUMNS

NEWS/COMMENTARIES

ARCHIVES 2012

Thursday, 14 June 2012 admin-s

File picture of voters lining up to cast their ballots in last year’s Sarawak state election. Survey shows PR can win more than 100 federal seats if the general election is called soon. — Picture by Choo Choy May

(The Malaysian Insider) - Surveys and analysis conducted internally by Pakatan Rakyat (PR) show it can win over 100 federal seats if polls are called soon but the federal opposition expects Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s Budget 2013 proposals due September 28 to be a “game-changer” that could affect the opposition’s victory.

The Malaysian Insider understands that a compilation of projections by the opposition pact’s three components largely match the consensus of Barisan Nasional (BN) intelligence which sees the ruling coalition assured of 80 seats with up to a further 50 wins likely.

“The analyses from both sides match very closely. The only big difference is we are more optimistic in Johor, Sabah and Sarawak which can yield us another 20 seats,” a top PR strategist told The Malaysian Insider.

Although the BN surveys show it could place up to 146 lawmakers in Parliament, just two short of a two-thirds supermajority, sources say this prognosis came immediately after the RM500 cash handouts to low-income families under the Bantuan Rakyat 1 Malaysia (BR1M) scheme.

A more recent survey by the Special Branch said the ruling pact could only win up to 118 federal seats, prompting BN strategists to seek a delay in the polls.

The prime minister’s approval ratings shot up to 69 per cent immediately after the RM2.6 billion in cash was disbursed but dipped last month after violent clashes between police and protestors at the April 28 Bersih rally for free and fair elections.

Najib is unlikely to hold the general election due by mid-2013 unless he is confident of improving on BN’s tally of 140 MPs from March 2008. He took over as PM a year later, ostensibly to improve on the coalition’s worst-ever electoral performance.

The BN chief recently said he will announce next year’s budget on September 28, expected to include a repeat of BR1M, which the Umno president has admitted is on the cards.

The Malaysian Insider also reported on Tuesday that BN MPs were handed RM1.5 million to plough into their constituencies in Monday’s pre-council meeting for the current parliamentary sitting.

It is also learnt that RM300,000 is to be made available this week for direct cash disbursements while the rest for projects will be available upon request.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng had said earlier this year PR would only need 100 MPs which would see “Umno implode,” and other PR strategists have echoed this view when speaking to The Malaysian Insider.

PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution also told The Malaysian Insider that “the top leadership may not agree, but my personal view is that now is the best time for polls.”