Barisan to study what went wrong in GE15, says Tok Mat

SEREMBAN: Barisan Nasional will be conducting a study on why many of its predictions for the 15th General Election (GE15) last November were inaccurate, says Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.

“We need to know what happened. Why were our readings in many voting centres wrong?” said the Barisan election director.

Mohamad said since there was not much time left for the state polls, Barisan also needed to quickly know which seats it can retain or regain.

It also needs to find ways to minimise losses in seats it has no chance of winning.

Mohamad said it is best should the final decision on the distribution of seats be made only after the respective state assemblies are dissolved.

“Although we have asked the parties in the unity government in the relevant states to discuss this, it should only be finalised after the assemblies are dissolved.

“If we finalise this now, there will be bound to be some minor problems as some may not agree and we may end up arguing with one another.

“And when this happens, we may lose our focus,” he told reporters at a Hari Raya open house organised by him and the families of his siblings in Rantau.

The state polls are due to be held in Negri Sembilan, Selangor, Penang, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu in the middle of this year.

Elaborating, Mohamad said both Barisan and Pakatan Harapan should take seriously the claims by some Perikatan Nasional leaders that they will capture Selangor and Negri Sembilan in the state polls.

“That is a challenge and we should make sure they are wrong.

“We need to make sure that they will never win even one seat in Negri Sembilan and that we can retain Selangor and Penang.

“So for now, let’s work hard and focus on winning,” he said.

Negri Sembilan, Selangor and Penang are now controlled by Pakatan while the three other states are under Perikatan.

The Umno deputy president also said the final decision on seats will be made by the two coalitions at the federal level.“There is no such thing as Barisan or Umno discussing it with PKR or Amanah alone.

“Once the states give us their input, both Barisan and Pakatan (at the national level) will sit and make a final decision when the time comes and this must be accepted by all involved,” he said.

Mohamad said the Barisan election machinery has also been continuously working after GE15 to prepare for the state polls.

It only took a break during Ramadan and Hari Raya.

“Although we have had party elections, which among others saw 70% new faces among Umno Youth leaders, our work has continued,” he said.

He also advised political parties in the unity government to refrain from openly talking about seat distribution, adding that they should instead focus on strategies to win the state polls.

Earlier, thousands, including Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, thronged Mohamad’s open house.

Mohamad said the extraordinary turnout was also probably because the event had not been held for the past three years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said villagers and relatives had helped prepare the food such rendang, gulai perut, gulai tulang and rebung and that none was catered.