will/would

“It will backfire on the ruling BN coalition in the court of public opinion. I am sure the people will/would boot out BN and vote in Pakatan in the next round,” he said.

Either one could be used. More context might help. As it stands right now, "will" looks like the best choice. "Would" is conditional, and no condition is set--the introductory sentence doesn't say that "it" (whatever "it" is) might backfire, it says it will backfire. With no condition set, the conditional ("would") doesn't seem to be the correct conjugation.

You were doing fine up to "best choice". You've brought up this,

"Would" is conditional, and no condition is set thing before but it's not accurate.

would can be conditional but so can will. No condition needs to be set within a sentence in order to use would. We use would all the time without any condition being set.

Would you like to go to a movie?
I would, yes.

[doorbell sounds] That would be Bill.

Hmmm, I would like a raspberry cheesecake cone, please.

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“It will backfire on the ruling BN coalition in the court of public opinion. I am sure the people will/would boot out BN and vote in Pakatan in the next round,” he said.

This seems to be an actual quote, Ms Tan. Which was in the original, will or would?

Because the person speaking seems to be expressing what to him is a certainty, the likelihood is will, but that doesn't say that would is impossible.

Hi JTT
'would' is the verb used. The speaker thinks what he said will happen. So I believe 'will' should have been used.

'would' also says things will/would happen, Ms Tan. Both are tenseless modal verbs which, in this case, are describing a future potential.

As I mentioned, there is nothing, grammatically, which would prevent a speaker from choosing 'would'. It's a pragmatic decision on the part of the speaker.

The speaker seems pretty sure but there certainly could be a case where a speaker in a similar situation decides to modify the certainty, to pull back just a little so he/she doesn't come across as a know it all, so he/she concedes a bit to a person/people nearby who don't feel so strongly, so he/she comes across as slightly more deferential/soft/polite.

Many thanks, Setanta and JTT.