PONTIAN: Barisan Nasional has brushed aside allegations that they are hoping for a low voter turnout as it was never part of its strategy, says Datuk Seri Hasni Mohammad

       The state Barisan chairman said the coalition has been campaigning aggressively and had never told voters not to come out.

       “We have been telling the people to go to the voting centres in the morning to avoid the possible rainfall in the afternoon,” he said in an interview.

       Hasni also reminded all Barisan candidates to continue with their campaigning until the final hour.

       On their chances tomorrow, Hasni said they were gunning for two thirds or about 37 seats to ensure stability in managing the state.

       He said if elected to power, they would immediately start work to fulfill their pledges in their manifesto.

       The “Ikhtiar Barisan Johor” has 43 initiatives encompassing five core pillars and an implementation plan to jump start economic recovery, offer more programmes to assist the B40 group and provide aid to help revive local businesses.

       Hasni also said youths would not be left out but would be more visible as they would be able to play a role in the creation of a stronger state.

       “The ‘Ikhtiar Barisan Johor’ can be implemented immediately without the need to undertake any study or research or go back to the meeting room.

       “It is crucial for Barisan, through our manifesto, to carry out political reforms such as introducing anti-hopping laws. We should also allow all assemblymen to be given certain allocations to develop their constituencies,” he said.

       Hasni said through a two-thirds majority, Barisan could do a re-delineation exercise in state seats with huge number of voters due to the implementation of automatic voters registration.

       “We need two thirds for this to be passed in the state assembly before the Election Commission can implement it. Maybe, with the re-delineation exercise, we can have more seats,” he said.

       Presently, among the seats with more than 100,000 voters include Kota Iskandar with 116,846 new voters, Puteri Wangsa (112,865), Tiram (105,769), Perling (101,339), Permas (103,649) and Skudai (102,893).

       “I hope the voters will decide in Barisan’s favour as we have proven our capabilities. This is a plan that Johor needs to bring back the state to its heydays,” he said.

       When asked about his personal experience in campaigning so far, Hasni, who is the incumbent for Benut, said being considered the poster boy for Barisan was something accepted by his voters.

       He said voters see him as a candidate who could bring more developments and activities to Benut.