Faridah Ibrahim said the presence of former Umno stalwarts, the likes of Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Muhyiddin Yassin, in the fray would make for tantalising election encounters against Barisan National’s potential line-up, especially candidates from Umno.

She told Bernama that candidates who are capable of providing credible answers to the electorate would hold the upper hand in GE14, which is expected to take place anytime soon following the dissolution of Parliament.

“It’s going to be exciting because there are many issues that people believe need to be answered by the relevant parties. People are just waiting for the answers. Strong, solid and credible arguments can sway the votes,” said Faridah.

She said new media was going to be popular to reach out to the masses and with platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and blogs, messages could be tailored to directly appeal to voters.

Meanwhile, Sivamurugan Pandian from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) said the opposition might take a combative and vitriolic approach to try and induce a “Malay tsunami” in the general election, which could put BN’s strength and impermeability to the test.

In this regard, he said, BN needed effective strategies and approaches to counter the attacks.

“Its ability to wrest more seats depends on its effectiveness in addressing negative perceptions created by the opposition, selection of candidates, and by controlling any potential discord or act of betrayal within the party,” he said.

Sivamurugan said the factors must be taken into account even though BN and its policies as a government had the support of rural voters, because winning the favour of urban voters could be a daunting task.

“BN cannot rest its confidence solely on the weaknesses of the opposition,” he told Bernama.