Former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin’s prediction that Barisan Nasional (BN) will win in the upcoming 13th General Election and opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is not the right candidate to be a prime minister, has invited mixed reactions from both side of the political divide.

Umno supreme council member Datuk Idris Haron said Daim is known to give opinions based on sound research, facts and figures.

“He predicted that the opposition will topple BN in five states and it happened. This time around, he took into account BN’s performance and sincerity as well as other factors such our hardworking prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak dan deputy prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

“The people has already given an opportunity for Pakatan Rakyat (PR) to rule in several states and they have proved that they could not handle fundamental issues like the water problem.

“One has to keep in mind that PR’s leader, Anwar, was not democratically chosen. On one hand they promote democracy while on the other, they fail to observe democracy. What more, they don’t even have a common logo. From that fact itself you can see that they have no unity,” he told Astro Awani today.

Idris also said he believes that Daim’s prediction will come true.

Putera MIC coordinator, P. Kamalanathan said Daim is spot on on his judgement on whom should be the better PM.

“Najib is clearly and comprehensively the better choice. As far as BN is concerned, we are more focused on working for the people and let our effort to translate into election victory.

“Overall, we are cautiously confident,” he said.

Meanwhile, PKR vice-president Tian Chua said no one can predict what will happen in the future.

“It is very clear that Daim and former premier Tun Mahathir Mohamad were against Pak Lah when he was the prime minister. Mahathir was openly campaigning against Pak Lah.

“Now, since BN is facing threat from PR, Daim and Mahathir join hands to bring power to BN. It is a life and death matter for them,” he said.

Chua said at the end of the day the question to ask is whether to change the government.

DAP vice chairman M. Kulasegaran said Daim himself was not a proper candidate and that was why they kicked him out from contesting in the 2008 general election.

“He should first explain why Kedah lost as he used to be the Member of Parliament for Merbok. We want a free and fair election. Let the voters decide who is the better candidate to become PM or which party will win in the next General Election.

“I think he is definitely a spokesperson for BN. He is not a fortune teller to simply predict the election result,” he said.

The 74-year-old Daim, told New Sunday Times that said BN only needs support from the fence-sitters to win as it has a secure over 4 million votes through its members.

Daim also said if given a choice between Najib and Anwar, he will choose the latter.

“I will give Najib the chance. I want Najib to win because I don't think Anwar is the right candidate to be prime minister.

“I believe he will mess up the country by getting advice from the likes of the IMF (International Monetary Fund), World Bank and Wolfowitz (Paul Wolfowitz, former World Bank president).

“I will support Najib, but he must fight corruption and crime, strengthen the nation's security and review the education system,” he told New Sunday Times.

Daim also urged Malaysians to give Najib a mandate.