Najib also recently visited a residential flat in Taman Cendana, Pasir Gudang. Videos on social media showed him being greeted by lines of residents gathered on the ground floor and along the corridors of upper floors, waving navy blue BN flags and chanting “Bossku”.
It is still early days for the 2022 Johor state election campaigning period, but BN is already bullish on its chances to be victorious.
During the 2018 general election, BN suffered an embarrassing defeat, losing power at federal level and also the Johor state government after six decades of dominance.
Johor had been a key stronghold for BN. The southern state is the birthplace and bastion for UMNO and the 2022 state election is now seen as an opportunity for redemption.
One of BN’s main contenders in the polls is Perikatan Nasional (PN).
The two coalitions are partners at the federal level and had governed the Johor state government together prior to the dissolution of the state assembly.
However, both coalitions are entering the Johor polls as rivals, fielding a candidate each in all 56 seats.
PN, which includes mainly Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) as well as Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan), has focused its campaign efforts on convincing voters that PN would be the better choice because it rejects corruption.
MOMENTUM FROM MELAKA VICTORY, CROWDED CONTESTS COULD BENEFIT BN: POLITICAL STRATEGIST
In a speech on Sunday, BN chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the coalition is eyeing to win at least a two-thirds majority for the Johor state election by clinching at least 38 of the 56 seats that are being contested. In 2018, BN only won half this number.
The optimism for a BN win in Johor on Mar 12 also stems from positive momentum arising from the coalition’s resounding victory in the Melaka state election last November where it clinched 21 out of 28 constituencies.
BN political strategist Isham Jalil told CNA that this upswing in pro-BN sentiment has boosted voter support for the coalition, even among the minority population.
“Look at the results from Melaka. The BN support among non-Malays rose from 5 per cent to 30 per cent,” said Mr Isham.
“We are hoping this upward trend will continue in Johor. It will be a huge morale boost ahead of the UMNO general assembly in March,” added the BN Selangor information chief.
Mr Isham told CNA that based on the coalition’s research, the change in voter sentiment can be attributed to how a large portion of Malaysians have grown tired over PH’s failure to fulfil election promises after it won in 2018.
He noted how in the current campaign, both PH and PN have leaned again on negative campaigning by attacking BN, and he claimed this is unlikely to sway the voters.