Umno wants at least seven more Johor seats, up from 35 in 2018

 

Umno plans to contest at least seven more seats in the upcoming Johor state election, up from 35 in 2018.

The party's deputy president Mohamad Hasan today said Umno wants to have at least 42 seats in the upcoming election.

"This is only on Umno's side. We are aiming at contesting 42 out of the total 56 Johor state seats," he said, as reported by Berita Harian.

Mohamad (above) was met by the media at the Kuala Lumpur Courts Complex today, where Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi attended a trial proceeding at the High Court.

Mohamad was asked to comment on Umno's plan for the state election, following the dissolution of the Johor state legislative assembly yesterday.

In the 2018 Johor state election, which ran concurrently with the 14th general election, Umno contested 35 state seats, while BN component parties took the remaining 21: MCA (15), MIC (4), and Gerakan (2).

Of the seats contested, Umno won 17, which later dropped to 14 due to defections. MIC won two of the seats it contested, while MCA and Gerakan lost all.

Meanwhile, about cooperation with PAS, Mohamad told reporters that the matter would be decided by the Umno Supreme Council in its next meeting.

According to him, the party's top leadership will also consider Johor BN's wish to go solo in the election.

"The cooperation (Muafakat Nasional in Johor) has yet to be decided, but according to what the Johor Umno and BN chief said, they are more inclined to go solo.

"So, we will discuss this in the meeting and make a decision on how we will contest the Johor state election," he said.

Mohamad also noted that Umno will face stiffer challenges with the addition of some 700,000 new voters due to the passing of Undi18 and automatic voter registration.

"This means that all parties would have to work hard. Including Umno.

"This state election would not be a walk in the park for Umno. We do not know how it will turn out."

 - Mkini