Barisan wants to win 13 out of 15 seats in central Johor, says Tok Mat

AYER HITAM: Barisan Nasional wants to win at least 13 out of the 15 state seats in the central region of Johor for the upcoming election.

The coalition's election director Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, also known as Tok Mat, said that Barisan previously won seven out of the 15 seats in the region.

"We lost eight seats in GE14. For this election, we have set a key performance index (KPI) of winning 13 out of the 15 seats.

"We need to retain the seven seats and win six more state seats in the region," he said in a speech in a Barisan event at Ayer Hitam here on Wednesday (Feb 9).

Tok Mat, who is also Umno deputy president, also reminded parties under the coalition to not fight about seat allocations, which could affect their chances of winning.

"Any issues on candidates should be put at the side. If there is any disagreement, leave it all aside for now.

"Do not let small problems like these to cause us to fight among ourselves and lose the election. Do not sabotage the party just because of not being selected to contest in the election.

"In GE14, we lost the election not because our enemies were strong, but because of small things like these," he said.

He also reminded the coalition not to be too confident with their past victories in Melaka and Sarawak, as each election is different.

Also present were MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong, MIC vice president Datuk M. Asojan, Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and caretaker Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Hasni Mohammad.

Nominations for the Johor state election have been set on Feb 26 and polling on March 12.

The seven seats won by Barisan in GE 14 were Sri Medan, Semarang, Parit Raja, Machap, Layang-Layang, Kahang and Renggit.