SEREMBAN: Barisan Nasional will contest 25 of the 36 state seats in the Negri Sembilan polls, says Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.
The Barisan Nasional deputy chairman said Umno would field candidates in 16 constituencies followed by MCA (seven) and MIC (two).
Three Umno members will be making their debut in the polls.
They are Kuala Pilah Umno youth chief Mohamad Qayyum Abd Jalil who will be standing in Senaling, Rasah puteri chief Siti Nur Umaira Hasim (Labu) and Kuala Pilah wanita deputy chief S. Leza Md Yasin (Pilah).
Former Senaling assemblyman Datuk Ismail Lasim will move to Juasseh after the incumbent Puan Sri Bibi Sharliza Abd Khalid decided to sit out of the polls.
Aside from Mohamad, who will be seeking re-election in Rantau, other incumbents are state Umno chief Datuk Seri Jalaluddin Alias (Pertang), Datuk Mohd Razi Mohd Ali (Sungai Lui), Datuk Mustapha Nagoor (Palong), Datuk Mohd Zaidy Abdul Kadir (Jeram Padang) and Muhammad Sufian Maradzi (Seri Menanti).
Others are Datuk Saiful Yazan Sulaiman (Johol), Suhaimizan Bizar (Gemencheh), Datuk Mohd Asna Amin (Lenggeng), Datuk Mohd Faizal Ramli (Linggi), Suhaimi Aini (Kota) and Datuk Zaifulbahri Idris (Chembong).
Mohamad said state MCA chief Datuk Leaw Kok Chan is Barisan’s candidate for Temiang, Yap Siok Moy (Rahang), Koh Kim Swee (Repah), Alan Lai (Nilai), Siow Kong Choon (Chennah), Chong Fui Ming (Bahau) and Pau Jeou Ching (Chuah).
MIC’s two candidates are A. Achutan (Sri Tanjung) and R. Thinalan in Seremban Jaya.
In the 2023 state polls, Umno contested 17 seats. The MCA and MIC did not contest the election.
At that time, Barisan and Pakatan Harapan had contested the election as a team under the unity government banner.
Together, they won 31 of the 36 state seats with the remaining five going to Perikatan Nasional.
In this state polls, Pakatan Harapan will be contesting all 36 seats.
Mohamad said the coalition will have to work hard so that they can wrest the state.
“The blue wave from Johor is here. We should go into battle mode so that we can emerge victorious. Our battlecry is the local saying ‘Hobin Jang Hobin’, which means we have to whack our rivals,” he said.
Hobin Jang Hobin is a colloquial term of endearment and also a motivational slogan of the Negri Sembilan football team which means “strike, boy, strike”.
Meanwhile, Barisan chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the coalition will ensure economic growth in Negri Sembilan remains on par with the national average if it is able to govern the state again.
The coalition chairman said the state recorded economic growth of 4.6% last year, which was below the national average of 5.2%.
“Johor recorded a growth of 8% last year. Believe me, this was possible with stability. I, in Putrajaya, will help when we take over the state government,” he said when launching Barisan’s election machinery.
Ahmad Zahid also took a swipe at the caretaker state government over its failure to address the Negri Sembilan constitutional crisis.
“The crisis happened due to their failure and therefore, Negri Sembilan needs a fairer and wiser government,” he added.
