JOHOR BARU, Aug 18 — The Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition has set a target for Johor to secure 20 parliamentary seats out of the 26 that will be contested in the coming 15th general election (GE15), said Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.
The BN deputy chairman said the target must be met by the coalition’s Johor chapter for it to be the main contributor of parliamentary seats to establish a strong federal government.
"This time BN’s priority is to win and we have set a high target for Johor to meet.
"This is a major task and I want Johor to secure at least 20 parliamentary seats as a major contributor in our efforts to establish a federal government,” said Mohamad at a media conference before chairing the Johor BN coordinating committee meeting at the Johor Umno liaison office here.
Present at the meeting was Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, the party’s secretary-general Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan and Johor BN chief Datuk Seri Hasni Mohammad, who is also the Johor Umno chief.
Mohamad, who is also the Umno deputy president and the party’s elections director, explained that his visit to Johor yesterday was to see the Johor BN's preparations in facing the coming general election, which could be held at any moment.
He said that BN’s preparation for GE15 needs to be done carefully and in detail to ensure that the coalition returns a comfortable lead as well as victory.
"During the Johor state election [in March], the entire BN leadership came to help, but for the coming GE15, the state will have to manage the election campaign themselves.
"That's why our level of preparation needs to be in detail. For us, there is a need for Johor to be stronger as there won’t be allies from all over the country coming to assist them," he said, explaining that other states would be similarly busy in facing the campaign during the GE15 period.
Mohamad pointed out that Johor is the ninth state to hold BN’s coordination meeting as well as preparation in facing GE15.
"Prior to this, BN has completed holding the same meetings in eight states, starting from Perlis, Kedah, Penang, Negeri Sembilan, the Federal Territories, Selangor, Kelantan and Terengganu.
"Today and tomorrow we will be in Johor, Sunday we will be in Melaka. For the following weeks, we will be in Perak (August 22 and 23) and Pahang (August 29 and 30).
"After that, BN will go to Sabah where we will hold the same meeting in four zones there as it is a big state,” he said.
