SEREMBAN: Barisan Nasional, which formed an understanding with Perikatan Nasional to contest the Negri Sembilan election as a team, will get the Mentri Besar post if they emerge victorious, says Datuk Seri Jalaluddin Alias.
The state Umno chief said Perikatan had explicitly made this declaration during the initial stages of their political understanding talks.
"Their leaders told us very clearly that the MB post will go to Barisan.
"There is no question about that," he said when contacted.
Jalaluddin, who will be defending the Pertang seat, said however, that both sides did not discuss the Mentri Besar candidate or the allocation of executive councillor seats.
"Our focus now is to win as many seats as possible in the election. We can take it from there later," he said.
Jalaluddin, who was a senior executive councillor in the previous state government, said Barisan had many potential candidates for MB.
"We shall leave that to the party president. We are in no rush," he said, adding that the election machinery of both parties have been told to double efforts to reach as many voters as possible.
In the Aug 1 state polls, Barisan will field candidates in 25 constituencies while Perikatan will field candidates in the remaining 11 constituencies.
In the 2023 Negri polls, 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.
