SEREMBAN: Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan is prepared to defend the Rantau seat in the Aug 1 Negri Sembilan polls if he gets the mandate from the Barisan Nasional leadership.
The former Mentri Besar, who first won the seat in the 2004 polls, said he was prepared to go for a sixth term if he gets the green light to do so.
"If the leadership is agreeable, I have no problem defending the seat," the Rambau MP said when met after opening the Rembau Umno division meeting here he said on Sunday (July 5).
Mohamad, who is also Umno deputy president, successfully defended the seat in the Aug 2023 state polls by defeating PAS candidate Rozmal Malakan with a 10,280-vote majority.
When asked if ex-Umno Youth chief and former Rambau MP Khairy Jamaluddin has also been shortlisted as a candidate in the state polls, Mohamad said there have been no discussions on the matter as of yet.
On June 22, Khairy, when asked if he would be contesting in the state polls, said he left this to the party leadership.
Khairy, who recently rejoined Umno, has also been actively campaigning for the party in the ongoing Johor state polls.
To another question, Mohamad, who is also state Barisan chief, said the distribution of seats for the state polls has not been finalised.
"We will be meeting soon to finalise this and should announce the names on July 15 when we launch Barisan's election machinery," he said.
Mohamad said he would also be proposing to the Barisan supreme council that the component parties swap certain seats to ensure the coalition stood a better chance of winning.
"If one party has been contesting a seat several times but has not been able to win it, then we may want to consider swapping.
"A voter may not like one component party in Barisan but may be open to voting for the other," he said, adding that this should also be considered as the racial composition of voters in some constituencies may have changed over the years.
Mohamad said parties that are considered Friends of BN may also be considered to field their candidates, as some may have influence in certain areas.
However, the Barisan leadership will have the final say on this.
Nomination day for the state polls has been fixed for July 18 and voting on Aug 1.
There are 36 seats in the state assembly. In the Aug 2023 polls, Pakatan Harapan won 17 seats, Barisan (14) and Perikatan (five).
Then Barisan and Pakatan had contested the election as a team under the unity government banner.
On the candidates for Umno, Mohamad said each division has been asked to provide three names for each seat to be considered by the party leadership.
Separately, Mohamad dismissed a statement by Datuk Mohd Nazifuddin Mohd Najib, the son of Datuk Seri Najib Razak, that a big Barisan victory in Johor polls on July 11 would signal public support for the former prime minister to receive a royal pardon.
"The Johor government has no power to secure Najib's release.
"This is a process by the Pardons Board, and only the King has the authority to pardon him," he said, adding that the country had laws which should be respected and adhered to by all.
Nazifuddin had reportedly said a landslide Barisan victory in the Johor election would signal that the people still supported Najib and hoped he would receive a royal pardon.
However, he also acknowledged that the granting of a pardon was the prerogative of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
/END
STATE POLLS 2026
