YONG PENG: A divided Opposition might give Barisan Nasional the edge it needs to win at least 35 seats in Saturday's (March 12) Johor state elections, political research outfit Ilham Centre says.

       It said field research conducted from Feb 18 to March 7 found various factors that placed Barisan at an advantage, such as multi-cornered fights, low voter turnout rate, and disunity among the Opposition.

       "Compared to the Melaka state elections, the Opposition is even more split in the ongoing Johor state election," it said in a statement on Friday (March 11).

       Ilham Centre said its field research involved 1,391 respondents who are registered voters in Johor, representing all segments of race, gender, age and locality.

       "In this study, Ilham is predicting Barisan to win at least 35 seats while Pakatan Harapan is safe in 10 seats.

       "The remaining 11 seats cannot be read due to tight races between Barisan, Pakatan and Perikatan Nasional," it added.

       According to Ilham Centre, the 11 were Kemelah, Bekok, Yong Peng, Parit Yaani, Puteri Wangsa, Kempas, Kota Iskandar, Tangkak, Paloh, Endau and Simpang Jeram.

       "Based on the response of Chinese voters, they are still concerned about the Covid-19 Omicron variant that's spreading at the moment, and they are scared to come out and vote.

       "For voters working in Singapore, they have already stated they won't return and vote," said the centre.

       Ilham Centre also said Pakatan and PKR seemed as though they had lost direction taking on Barisan after losing badly in Melaka and Sarawak.

       "Pakatan still can't find the magic formula to return to prime performance as in the 14th General Election.

       "The absence of a figure who's able to unite the Opposition is also the reason why there are many multi-cornered fights that will benefit only Barisan in Johor," it added.

       Ilham Centre said Perikatan was supposed to be Barisan's main contender, but the low percentage of non-Malay support has weakened its challenge.

       "The Johor state election has a different playing field than the Melaka election. Johor seats have a more mixed and diverse composition compared to Melaka," it added.

       Ilham Centre said Opposition parties must form an electoral pact or a new coalition that could represent all segments of voters.

       "If the Opposition fails to fulfil this requirement, we can make an expected conclusion in the coming general election," it added.

       The Johor state election had a 14-day campaigning period.