UMNO STARTS TO GRAB SEATS FOR THEMSELVES & POSSIBLY FOR PAS TOO? BN ALLIES TOLD TO ACCEPT SEAT CUTS TO ‘ARREST POPULARITY PLUNGE’

BARISAN Nasional (BN) component parties face getting fewer seats in the next general election, Selangor Umno liaison committee chief Noh Omar hinted today, saying they must be willing to give up their traditional seats to win the polls.

He said BN could not maintain the status quo by fielding the same candidates in the same seats if they were still unable to win after three elections.

“Previously, if a seat belongs to Party A, they will continue contesting the same seat.

“But, as what the president said, if there is no change in three terms, it’s time for us to change the seats because seats don’t belong to a particular party,” Noh said after attending a closed-door BN meeting at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur.

“But we have to see whether it is winnable or not, or if the (candidate) can be accepted by the people,” he said, using the phrase “winnable”, which was used in the last general election in 2013, where BN lost the popular vote.

He said if BN wanted to continue ruling the country, there must be tolerance among component parties as well as the spirit of power-sharing.

“We cannot contest the election on status quo principles.”  

Last September, MCA president Liow Tiong Lai said the party was open to discussing with other BN component parties the possibility of exchanging seats to increase the chances of winning the general election.

In the 2013 General Election, MCA won just seven out of 37 parliamentary seats contested and 11 of the 90 state seats they stood in.

In 2008, the party managed to retain 15 parliamentary seats out of 40 contested and won 29 state seats nationwide.

MIC, meanwhile, only won three seats in Parliament and five state seats nationwide.

In the 2008 General Election, the party won three out of nine parliamentary seats allocated to them and seven state seats from 19 contested. It later won another parliamentary seat in the 2010 Hulu Selangor by-election.

Another BN component party in Peninsular Malaysia is Gerakan, which lost control of Penang to DAP in 2008 and failed to wrest it back in the 2013 General Election after ruling the state for 39 years.

– https://www.themalaysianinsight.com