PETALING JAYA: PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli has been urged to study how Malaysians are viewing Pakatan Harapan instead of claiming that Malay support for Umno has waned.
Citing the recent Johor and Melaka state elections, Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan said the popular vote for Barisan Nasional extended across all races.
“For example, Yong Peng is a seat whose constituents comprised a majority of non-Malays.
“Yet, not only did Barisan win that seat (during the state elections) but even improved its majority.
“How does PKR fare here?
"Do they currently have the same support as during the 14th General Election (GE14)?” he said in a Facebook post on Sunday (Oct 3).
Shahril took a swipe at Rafizi, saying that it was impossible how his “formula” was more accurate than facts.
“He (Rafizi) said Malay support for Umno has dipped to 18%. In GE14, Barisan actually had more than 40% of the Malay vote,” he said.
“We shall wait and see in GE15. Umno and Barisan are always careful and respect the rights of voters, without passionately downplaying our rivals' strength,” he said.
Previously, Rafizi was quoted as saying that Umno was pushing for an early general election due to waning support among the Malays.
He said Malay support for Umno had dipped from 27% in the beginning of August to 18% a month later, in the aftermath of the littoral combat ship (LCS) scandal and when Datuk Seri Najib Razak was sent to prison.
This was based on a sample size of 2,500 Malay voters, he said.
