Tok Mat confident of a BN victory on Nov 19

KUALA LUMPUR: Barisan Nasional deputy chairman Mohamad Hasan is confident the coalition can secure 112 parliamentary seats in Saturday’s general election and form the government.

“We have all the data which we have gone through carefully, and our task on Nov 19 is to mobilise the voters we have identified (as BN supporters) to go out and vote,” he said at a press conference at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur today.

“If so, I am confident BN will cross the (finish line first).”

Asked whether grassroots dissatisfaction after several big names were dropped from GE15 would affect BN, Mohamad said such grouses would not dent the coalition’s hopes of winning.

Selangor BN chairman Noh Omar was not picked to defend his Tanjong Karang seat, with Shahidan Kassim (Arau), Annuar Musa (Ketereh) and Zahidi Zainul Abidin (Padang Besar) among the other names not selected.

While Noh and Annuar are sitting the election out, Shahidan is contesting under Perikatan Nasional, and Zahidi has fielded himself as an independent.

“We had an earthquake, but we managed to sort it out. It’s not a problem,” said Mohamad.

“We really mean business. Don’t sabotage your own party during an election.”

Although he maintained that BN was confident it could form the next government, he did not rule out cooperating with other parties to form a coalition government if needed.

However, he stressed that BN chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi does not have the mandate to decide which parties, if any, BN should cooperate with after the election.

“He definitely has to consult me. It’s a top-5 decision,” he said, referring to the president, deputy president and three vice-presidents. — Free Malaysia Today