MUAR: Perikatan Nasional chairman and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said he had never done anything unfair to the Chinese when he was prime minister, deputy prime minister, minister, or Johor menteri besar.

He also said 80% of the beneficiaries of the government’s assistance packages for micro businesses and SMEs during the pandemic while he was prime minister, were local Chinese businesses.

He said in a joint media interview with Sin Chew Daily, Sinar Harian and Astro Awani this morning that he knew he was branded by some as a Malay supremacist although he had been very fair to everyone in the country irrespective of race.

He said the Perikatan Nasional government had successfully saved the country when it was going through its toughest moments during the coronavirus pandemic, and this proved PN’s leadership capability.

He also revealed that PN was enjoying increasing support among the Malay voters, currently at around 60%, adding that if the support rate could breach the 70% threshold on the polling day, PN would be able to form the government by itself.

“Bersatu and PAS are the country’s two largest Malay parties. We can win the election if we manage to secure the support of majority of Malays and some Chinese.”

Citing the overwhelming support at PN’s ceramahs during the campaign period, Muhyiddin said he believed the coalition could capture the Perlis state administration and win most parliamentary seats in Johor.

In the meantime, Muhyiddin admitted that support for PN was weak in urban constituencies, and consequently the coalition would focus on Malay and some non-Malay constituencies.

He denied claims that Bersatu had to depend on PAS’ election machinery during the campaign period, arguing that the two parties had their individual strengths in different areas and were complementing each other.

When asked how PN was going to woo young and first-time voters, Muhyiddin said even if it was PN’s first time in a general election, its leadership capability had been proven, adding that PN had included issues related to the youth in its election campaign in hope of attracting young voters.