PUTRAJAYA: Barisan Nasional chairman and Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi described PAS deputy president Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man’s invitation to MCA and MIC to join Perikatan Nasional as “his personal statement”.
“I know they are making efforts to lure Barisan component parties with offers that do not necessarily promise any meaningful gains,” said Ahmad Zahid, who is also Deputy Prime Minister.
Previously, Tuan Ibrahim, in an interview with a newspaper, invited MCA and MIC to join Perikatan following apparent dissatisfaction among Barisan component parties over their exclusion from representation in the Federal Government.
Meanwhile, Ahmad Zahid said Barisan has mobilised election machinery in Sabah State Legislative Assembly constituencies in preparation for the upcoming 17th state election.
“We’ve mobilised our machinery throughout the 73 state constituencies and are looking at areas that we will focus on in Sabah,” he said after attending the monthly gathering of the Rural and Regional Development Ministry here yesterday.
Wave the flag: Ahmad Zahid (centre) waving the Jalur Gemilang during the monthly assembly of the Rural and Regional Development Ministry. — Bernama
Ahmad Zahid said negotiations between Barisan and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) for the state polls have yet to be finalised.
“We have strengthened and finalised negotiations with Pakatan Harapan (PH) but not with GRS.
“We respect the cooperation between PH and GRS ... what’s important is victory. So, we will focus more on the seats we can win; that’s our target,” he said, Bernama reported.
Ahmad Zahid, who is also Rural and Regional Development Minister, said his ministry is focusing on efforts to enhance early childhood education infrastructure, as well as Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) under Budget 2026.
“We are looking at the expansion of the Pre-Tahfiz Kemas Tabika. Currently, there are 10,883 pre-schools where we have started the memorisation of all 30 juzuk (chapters) of the Quran for our children aged three to six.
“A total of 125,000 have participated. We intend to take the total to 140,000 participants next year.”
