GE15: Leaders from Johor BN's components speak up about party's performance

JOHOR BARU: Barisan Nasional’s performance in the 15th General Election (GE15) has not gone down well among the grassroots, as leaders from its component parties in Johor have expressed their displeasure.

Johor MIC information chief S. Deva said that his own party president Tan Sri SA Vigneswaran should resign, along with Barisan chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

"Even before GE15, I have consistently said that we must remember lessons learnt from the (14th) general election, but it fell on deaf ears.

"Barisan also failed to listen to its supporters and grassroots leaders, insisting on fielding candidates that are favourable to them instead of leaders who are desirable for the people.

"In return, the people have sent a strong message to show how disappointed they are with the decisions made," he said when contacted by The Star on Sunday (Nov 20).

He added that instead of having reliable local candidates, the party chose to field parachute candidates from other states such as Perak and Kuala Lumpur.

"At the same time, people like Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba and Datuk Halimah Mohamed Sadique, those who have served their constituency well, were dropped from the candidates list.

"Without prior discussion with the grassroots, they decided to put candidates from other states, whom the party’s leadership were keen on.

"In fact, Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed, who had earlier said that he did not wish to contest, was also pushed to recapture the Pulai parliamentary seat. There are other locals who could have contested the seat," he said.

Moving forward, he urged Barisan to make drastic changes from the lessons learnt from the past two general elections.

Meanwhile, Yong Peng assemblyman Johor MCA Youth chief Ling Tian Soon said Ahmad Zahid should bear the responsibilities of Barisan’s defeat and “chaos” in the GE15.

“The GE15 results clearly showed that voters disagree with the inappropriate handling of national issues by Barisan and Umno.

“As the top man of the coalition, Ahmad Zahid should immediately resign and give way to new leaders to look for solutions and a way out.

“Barisan must look through the pain and undergo thorough reforms,” other than going closer and listening to the will of the people,” said Ling, who is also Johor health and unity committee chairman.

Earlier, Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi called for Ahmad Zahid’s immediate resignation as coalition chairman and Umno president in light of Barisan’s performance in GE15.

Following that, most of the state’s executive council members have also issued similar statements to echo the call for Ahmad Zahid to resign.

In GE15, Pakatan Harapan made a strong comeback by winning at least 15 out of the 26 parliamentary seats in Johor.

Barisan, which won big during the state elections in March, only managed to pick up nine seats while Perikatan Nasional won two seats.