Surveys show Barisan will hold on to Kedah

ALOR SETAR: Two surveys, including one by Merdeka Center, have predicted that Barisan Nasional will hold on to Kedah.

The Merdeka Center survey found that Barisan would win 21 out of 36 state seats, while Universiti Malaysia Perlis (Unimap) predicted 22 state seats for Barisan.

For parliamentary seats, Merdeka Center expected Barisan to win nine of the 15 seats whereas Unimap gave the figure at 11.

In the 2013 general election, Barisan secured 21 state and 10 parliamentary seats.

The Unimap survey also predicted a win for Barisan in Langkawi.

In an exclusive interview with The Star, top state official Datuk Armishah Siraj said that based on the surveys and other feedback and sources of information, Barisan could win 22 seats at worst and up to 26 seats at best.

But he said going by his personal observations, the fight for the Langkawi parliamentary seat remained an uphill task for Barisan.

“I was told that people everywhere say Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad will win but based on ground reports, there is a fighting chance for Barisan,” said Armishah, the principal private secretary in the mentri besar’s office.

Dr Mahathir will face Barisan incumbent Datuk Nawawi Ahmad of Umno and PAS’ Zubir Ahmad.

Armishah also disputed Invoke Malaysia’s survey claiming Kedah would fall to Pakatan Harapan and PAS would win zero seats.

“According to our latest findings, PAS is our main opponent,” he said.

Unimap don Dr Salina Mohd Asi, who led the university’s survey, said the findings were based on a sample of 10,000 respondents per state constituency.