Nazri expects bittersweet outcome for Perak BN

Perak Umno veteran Nazri Abdul Aziz has predicted that BN will retain hold of the Perak government but win only a third of the parliamentary seats.

Nazri (above) said he was confident that incumbent menteri besar Saarani Mohamad has left a good impression on the voters which would allow BN to win enough seats to form the state government again.

However, the six-term BN MP for Padang Rengas, believed that BN could only win eight of the 24 parliamentary seats.

"I'm confident that with Saarani as our 'poster boy' at the state level, we can form a state government in Perak.

"As for Parliament, I'm only confident of winning eight seats... Perhaps we may need to form an alliance with other BN-friendly parties (to form a federal government)," he said.

Nazri's pessimistic projection for the number of Parliament seats BN can win in the state was even lower than the 11 which the coalition actually won in 2018.

Choice of candidates

He explained that the coalition was facing problems in Gerik and Pasir Salak due to the choice of candidates.

Describing Gerik as a "grey seat" (might swing either way), Nazri said that an "outsider" has been fielded for the seat.

"He's not even from Perak. This will be a problem because we normally want a local candidate," he added.

Nazri was referring to the fact that BN fielded Kelantan-born Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki for Gerik, despite the Gerik Umno chapter repeatedly asking for a local candidate during their annual general meetings.

As for Pasir Salak, Nazri said there was unhappiness among the party grassroots over the fact that their division leader Tajuddin Abdul Rahman was not fielded again.

"We know the candidate is local, but there is unhappiness... While I believe that people will vote for BN, I consider Pasir Salak now a 'grey seat' instead of 'white'," he added.

BN typically classifies seats into three colours - white, grey and black - to describe their perceived chances of winning.

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