BN has no intention of forming new grouping, says Tok Mat

 The BN deputy chairman says its informal pact with PN is aimed at ensuring Malay votes will not be split in the Negeri Sembilan polls.

BN deputy chairman Mohamad Hasan said the decision to work with PN took into account long-term political interests and the country’s stability in view of the next general election.

REMBAU:

Barisan Nasional has no intention of forming a new grouping, says its deputy chairman Mohamad Hasan who emphasised that its alliance with Perikatan Nasional for the Negeri Sembilan state election is merely an “understanding”.

Mohamad, better known as Tok Mat, said BN’s pact with PN was aimed at ensuring Malay votes would not be split in the Aug 1 polls.

“I do not think or expect BN to enter into any new partnership,” Mohamad, who is seeking a seventh term as Rantau assemblyman in the upcoming polls, told reporters while on the campaign trail.

Under the informal electoral pact, BN is contesting 25 seats and the PAS-led PN 11 seats, with no overlap.

Both PN and BN have also instructed their respective supporters to vote for each other’s candidates.

Yesterday, Parti Wawasan Negara president Hamzah Zainudin proposed naming the electoral cooperation between the two coalitions “Perikatan Barisan Nasional”.

Mohamad said a split in Malay votes was among the main challenges BN wanted to overcome and its understanding with PN was one way to avoid going head to head with the opposition coalition.

He also said the decision by BN to work with PN took into account long-term political interests and the country’s stability in view of the next general election. - FMT