KUALA LUMPUR: Barisan Nasional will contest all the seats in the upcoming Negri Sembilan state election, says Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
For now, the Umno president added, the party and Barisan Nasional would continue to work with Pakatan Harapan in the caretaker state administration.
"We will move solo in the Negri Sembilan polls. Pakatan is contesting all 36 seats, as such, we too have to contest all the seats," he told reporters after the launch of Invest Malaysia here on Tuesday (June 9).
Asked if Barisan would be able to secure victory, Ahmad Zahid said it depended on the voters but he was confident the party would deliver a result.
Asked if there would be a revival of Muafakat Nasional, the Deputy Prime Minister dismissed the notion, stating that the one-time coalition formed between Umno and PAS had already been registered as a non-governmental organisation by a certain individual.
"As such, (if) there is intention to revive Muafakat Nasional be it 1.0 or 2.0, we have closed the door on the matter," he said.
The dissolution of the Negri Sembilan state assembly was announced on Friday (June 5).
Following this, state Umno chairman Datuk Seri Jalaluddin Alias proposed that Barisan contest all 36 seats.
In the previous Negri Sembilan election in 2023, Pakatan and Barisan formed the state government after cooperating in the polls and winning 31 seats.
Pakatan won 17 seats while Barisan won 14. Perikatan Nasional won five seats.
