KUALA LUMPUR: Barisan Nasional is eyeing to capture several parliamentary seats that it did not win in the 15th General Election (GE15), but in which it had garnered the second highest number of votes, says Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (pic).
Classifying such seats as “Tier 2 seats”, the Barisan chairman said the coalition could win them in the 16th General Election due in 2027.
“I am confident, if unity is the priority and made a key focus in a political organisation like Umno, we can secure the seats in the Tier 2 category,” he said during a podcast episode.
He said the coalition will negotiate with other parties in an effort to capture these seats.
In GE15, Barisan secured only 30 parliamentary seats, comprising 26 from Umno, followed by MCA (two), MIC (one) and Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (one).
The coalition then joined Pakatan Harapan and coalitions from Sabah and Sarawak to form the unity government in November 2022.
The Bagan Datuk MP said that Umno’s losses in GE15 were due to factionalism and that it is now a smaller party.
Although Umno had lost many seats and supporters since GE15, Ahmad Zahid said it was better to be a smaller but cohesive party rather than a large one with multiple factions and problematic members.
“Let Umno be smaller in terms of members who are very loyal to the party,” he said.
“If they are a pain in the neck (in the party) or ‘gunting dalam lipatan’ (hidden enemy), those people are no longer needed.”
Ahmad Zahid also took a swipe at exiled Umno leaders Khairy Jamaluddin and Shahril Hamdan, saying the duo can stay out of Umno for good.
While he did not specifically name them, Ahmad Zahid said: “Those who ‘keluar sekejap’ (exited briefly) can ‘keluar selama-lamanya’ (stay out for good).
“My goal is to reunite (party members); those who left can do so for good.”
Khairy, an ex-Umno Youth chief, started the “Keluar Sekejap” podcast with ex-information chief Shahril in 2023.
Umno expelled Khairy and suspended Shahril.
He said those who remained loyal to the party must stay loyal and put the party’s interests above their own.
