Of the 18 polling districts in the state seat, a Barisan Nasional source said, only eight were expected to vote in favour of the unity coalition’s candidate, Syed Hussien Syed Abdullah.
These are Malay majority areas, the source told FMT.
The 10 other polling districts are still grey, or on the fence, areas. The source said these districts contained a high number of voters while eight of them are Chinese majority.
“That is why our focus is on these grey areas. Our machinery is going to the ground to ask the people, especially the Chinese, to go out and vote on Saturday.
“BN’s chances of winning are still high, but we need to increase our efforts to persuade as many voters to cast their ballots so that we can win with a greater majority,” the source said.
The source did not dismiss the possibility that the spat between DAP vice-chairman Teresa Kok and Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh over the mandatory halal certification proposal may affect the sentiments of voters in Mahkota.
Kok sent a letter of demand to the Melaka executive councillor, seeking an apology and RM25 million in damages for allegedly defaming her in a TikTok video regarding the halal certification issue.
Akmal dismissed her demands and said he was ready to battle it out in court.
A 73-year-old voter, who wanted to be known as Ah Ting, said he knew several acquaintances who planned to boycott the by-election because they were unhappy with Akmal, who they deemed arrogant and haughty.
“I asked them why they wanted to boycott, and they said they were dissatisfied with Akmal. But I told them that he’s an outsider (in Mahkota) and that not all BN or Umno (members) are like that,” he said.
Another voter, Ah Lau, 33, said the tiff between Akmal and Kok would not influence his decision, adding that even his family members living outside Kluang would be back to vote on Saturday.
“We must vote. Besides, we have good, young candidates now. I also know Syed Hussien, he’s a good person. My family and I are definitely voting for him,” he said.
Johor menteri besar Onn Hafiz Ghazi, who is also BN’s director for the Mahkota by-election, had made several pleas to the Chinese community to go out and vote.
On Tuesday, the Johor Umno chief urged Chinese voters in Mahkota to refrain from making emotional decisions and boycotting the by-election
In a Facebook video yesterday, he also urged voters working and living in Singapore to return and vote.
Similarly, DAP’s Kluang MP Wong Shu Qi appealed to the Chinese electorate to not be swayed by the dispute between Akmal and Kok, saying the spat was personal.
Chinese voters make up 34% of the 66,318 voters in the Mahkota state seat.
Syed Hussien is in a straight fight against Perikatan Nasional’s Haizan Jaafar.