SEREMBAN: Barisan Nasional has yet to decide on its allies to face elections in six states due in the next few months but is certain the coalition would not be going it alone, says its deputy chairman Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.
Mohamad, who is also Barisan election director, said the coalition was in no position to contest the state polls on its own as it did in the Nov 19 general election, which turned out to be its worst performance ever.
"We cannot be gung-ho and go solo like the last time (GE15).
"That has to change; if we do not want to get another bad result," he told reporters when met after launching the SMK Puteri graduation ceremony here.
The Umno deputy president said Barisan did not have many options but would have to make the best decision of the limited choices it had.
"We can't be choosy. Since we do not have many options, we must make an intelligent decision and pick the best," he said.
Asked if Barisan may consider forming an alliance based on the unity government model at the federal level, Mohamad said this was surely an option.
"There is a big possibility that we may adopt that model. The choices are limited," he said.
The six states that need to hold their state polls this year are Pakatan Harapan controlled Negri Sembilan, Selangor and Penang and PAS-held Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu.
Mohamad said Barisan will also study the findings of a postmortem on GE15 soon to see why it fared badly.
He said Barisan must do so as it should know why its performance in GE15 was its worst ever.
"We cannot just close our eyes and be in denial.
"Barisan needs to know where it went wrong and needs to come up with proper strategies to move forward," he said.
Mohamad said Barisan will among others analyse the voting patterns in GE15 and why it did badly in some polling districts.
"We do not want to be fishing at the wrong place again (in the state polls).
"We may have won five or six polling of the 12 or 13 districts in a particular constituency in GE15 and we need to find out why we lost in the remaining ones," he said.
Mohamad said this has to be done quickly as there was only a few months left before the states had to dissolve their respective assemblies.
He said once this was completed, Barisan will work on preparing its election machinery for the state polls.
"Once that is done, we will decide who our allies will be.
"Then, the strategies will be put in place to face the polls," he said, adding that this included talks on seat distribution.
