Crowd favourite: Ismail Sabri (right) posing for photos with residents of Kampung Has in Jerteh, Terengganu.
BESUT: At a pasar malam in Kampung Tok Has in Jerteh here, Umno veteran Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob was stopped at almost every stall by shoppers and traders who wanted a “wefie” with the former prime minister.
It was not just Ismail Sabri who was smothered by requests, but also Terengganu Umno veteran and former mentri besar Tan Sri Idris Jusoh, who accompanied him as he campaigned for Barisan Nasional in the Terengganu state polls.
A day before that in Negri Sembilan, Umno grassroots members turned out by the thousands to Ismail Sabri’s events.
It was this enthusiasm that prompted Ismail Sabri to confidently dismiss claims that Barisan’s traditional voters will ditch the coalition in the state polls.
“It is all just psywar (psychological warfare). I don’t see it happening,” he said in an interview.
Analysts and some politicians have said that one of the deciding factors in these six polls is the Barisan vote and how many of their supporters will actually turn out.
The claim is that some supporters will either sit out the six state polls or that they will vote for the coalition’s rivals Perikatan Nasional.
A survey published recently by a Singapore academic journal argued that states such as Selangor – a stronghold of Barisan’s ally Pakatan Harapan – will fall due to this silent protest from Barisan voters.
Barisan is contesting 108 out of the 245 seats spread out over the six states, the majority of which are in Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu.
The coalition’s supporters will be instrumental to the fate of those three Malay heartland states as well as whether Pakatan can hold on to Selangor, as this state has up to 30 seats where Malays make up the majority of voters.
“As of nomination day, the Barisan vote, along with factors such as the turnout of young voters and outstation voters, are unknowns,” said political scientist Dr Yusri Ibrahim of the polling research firm Ilham Centre.
Yusri said this was because surveys had revealed that a significant number of Barisan supporters, especially Malays from Umno, were still undecided on their choice.
Ismail Sabri, however, said such a claim was a Perikatan tactic to demoralise Barisan supporters and members.
“It’s to damage our confidence and our ability to win. They are saying that Umno members are boycotting us, but as of now, I don’t see it.
“I was in Negri Sembilan, and now in Terengganu I don’t see a boycott from our members. In fact, it was very lively at the Negri Sembilan events and branch members came out in droves,” he said.
Terengganu Umno leader Datuk Nik Dir Nik Wan Ku echoed this observation, adding that in Terengganu for instance, Umno members had been working just as hard as their rivals from Perikatan.
“We’ve been putting up flags a few days even before nomination day so that we don’t fall behind PAS. If our members boycotted us, we wouldn’t be able to do this,” he said, referring to PAS, Perikatan’s dominant party.
The iconic white-moon-on-green logo of PAS flags blanketed the state’s main roads and intersections even before the official campaign period began on July 29, but Barisan’s white-scales and dark blue banner are not far behind.
Perikatan had been trying to drive a wedge between Barisan and Pakatan by playing up unfounded Malay fears over DAP, which is in Pakatan, said Terengganu Umno deputy chief Nik Dir.
“But Umno members know that there is no DAP in Terengganu. The only people who have called Umno members infidels and monkeys are those from PAS,” he said.
