ISKANDAR PUTERI: Barisan Nasional wants to continue maintaining Johor as its fixed deposit state in the upcoming state polls, says Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The Barisan chairman said the election would be the starting point that would ignite the coalition’s spirit across the nation.
“The Johor election is the true platform for uniting the people.
“It is a test of our dignity and the starting point that will spread across the whole country.
“We shall make Barisan the pillar of this election,” he said in his speech at the launch of the Barisan machinery for the Johor state election at Educity Stadium here yesterday.
In the 15th state election, Barisan won a total of 40 seats out of 56 state seats.
Ahmad Zahid reminded the coalition’s machinery to be wary of new forms of disinformation.
“Today, slander comes in the form of short videos, edited speech clips, fake posters, anonymous social media accounts and words that appear true but are actually false.
“These lies are designed to destroy confidence, disrupt unity and make the people confused, angry and reject Barisan before they have had the chance to evaluate our work,” he said.
The Deputy Prime Minister also said discussions involving Barisan’s component parties were almost complete and the coalition was working towards finalising its candidate line-up for all Johor seats to be contested.
Ahmad Zahid said Barisan was confident of fielding a strong line-up comprising a combination of experienced leaders and fresh faces capable of winning voters’ support.
He also revealed the coalition had received an overwhelming response from former Umno members who returned to the party.
He added that many former party leaders who had parted ways with Umno over the past three years had now re-established contact with the party leadership and offered to help Barisan’s election campaign.
“What is even more encouraging is the participation of young people. About 82% of the applications we have received are from youths,” he said.
He said the strong response from young supporters reflected growing confidence in Barisan among the younger generation.
He expressed hope that the youths would play an active role in campaigning for Barisan candidates throughout the election period.
“We hope they will go down to the ground together and help secure victories for Barisan candidates. Many of them still have influence within their respective communities,” he said.
