BARISAN Nasional can wrest back Putrajaya if Umno works with PAS in the next general election (GE15), said former BN chairman and party president Najib Razak, finally admitting the strategy of forcing three-cornered contests in GE14 caused his government’s downfall.
In the 14th general election last year, Umno encouraged three-cornered contests between itself, PAS and Pakatan Harapan, Najib said at a dialogue session at Wisma Umno in Langkawi.
At the time, analysts said the strategy was to split non-Umno votes between PAS and PH so that Umno could get a majority of the votes.
“That plan was based on the results of the Kuala Kangsar and Sg Besar by-elections in 2016 when Umno, which led the BN coalition, faced off against PAS and PH party Amanah,” Najib said at the dialogue titled “Umno and PAS to defend Islam and Malay power”.
“In our early estimates, based on the Kuala Kangsar and Sg Besar by-elections, where there were three-cornered contests, BN won both seats by bigger majorities (than GE13).
“But that is where our estimates were wrong. In reality, when there are three-cornered contests (in GE14), they were a disadvantage to us.”
In GE14, BN only won 32 out of the 77 parliamentary seats that had three-cornered fights. PAS won 23 while PH took 22.
“So, if you look at the GE14 results, more than 30 parliamentary seats could have been won by Umno and PAS if we had cooperated back then. With the 30 seats, plus the seats from Sabah and Sarawak, we could have formed the government.”
In GE14, BN won 79 seats and PAS 18. However, Sarawak BN lawmakers left the coalition to form Gabungan Parti Sarawak with 19 seats, leaving BN with 60 MPs.
BN later lost an additional 21 MPs, who either defected to PH or went independent. As of January this year, the former ruling coalition has 39 seats in the Dewan Rakyat.
Langkawi PAS chief Zubir Ahmad echoed Najib’s views, saying that if they collaborated, both parties could regain Kedah in GE15 with two-thirds of its 36 state seats.
Kedah fell to PH in GE14 after it snared 18 state seats, while BN was left with only three.
“If we cooperated, based on the GE14 results, only Langkawi would be lost. We would win all the other seats. At the state level, we would be able to win 30 out of 36 seats,” said Zubir, who was the other speaker in the programme.
Zubir said Umno and PAS have to find a meeting point to defend Islam and the Malays which are “denigrated by irresponsible people”.
“When Malays and Islam are being pressured, Umno and PAS must find a way to unite.”
HISHAMMUDDIN VISITS OLD PAL AZMIN AT HOME
KUALA LUMPUR – Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein today visited his old pal Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali at his home in Ampang where he is recuperating after having undergone surgery at a hospital.
Hishammuddin who was accompanied by his wife Datin Seri Tengku Marsilla Tengku Abdullah posted a picture of both of them with Azmin and his wife Shamshida Taharin on his Twitter account with a caption that read: “Wishing Azmin Ali a speedy recovery.”
Azmin later replied to Hishammuddin’s Tweet saying he was visited by an old friend and thanked the former defence minister and his wife Tengku Marsilla.
Azmin also joked: “Hisham drove himself to my house in Ampang, apparently he has a driving licenze.”
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It is unclear why Azmin had sought surgery but he has since been discharged from the undisclosed medical facility.
News of his hospitalisation emerged via photographs of him with his well-wishers such as Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah and the prime minister’s wife, Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Ali, among others.
Earlier last month photographs of Azmin and Hishammuddin in Morocco had caught the attention of political speculators and set tongues wagging. Several photographs and even a video said to be taken by Azmin’s eldest son Ameer Azmin was circulated on social media showing not just Azmin and Hishammuddin but their families posing for group pictures in the last week of December.
One of the pictures was captioned “our families reunited”.
One of the pictures was captioned “our families reunited”.
Azmin verified that the photographs of him and Hishammuddin in Morocco were taken recently, but added that their meeting there was coincidental.
Azmin said he was friends with the former Umno vice-president, but insisted their relationship dates back decades and does not signal any tie-up between their two parties. – – Malay Mail
THE MALAYSIAN INSIGHT / MALAY MAIL
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