In an Utusan Malaysia report, Zahid said he was sure all the competing candidates, including independents, would concentrate their efforts on wooing fence-sitters as they can decide the outcome of the Nov 19 polls.

“I’m sure these fence-sitters want a stable government and the prosperity offered by BN,” he said.

Touching on the number of candidates contesting in GE15, Zahid said this was proof of the country’s “lively” democracy.

“However, in my opinion, voters will choose not only the best candidate but also the best party that can carry out beneficial programmes for the people.”

Zahid, who is defending the Bagan Datuk seat in GE15, is up against Shamsul Iskandar Akin of Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Faiz Na’aman of Perikatan Nasional (PN).

A record-high 945 candidates from various parties submitted their nomination papers to contest the 222 parliamentary seats in GE15, the Election Commission (EC) said yesterday.

PH has fielded the most number of candidates at 206, followed by BN (178), PN (149) and Pejuang (116).

GE15 will also see 108 independent candidates contesting, another record high.