ALOR STAR, July 23 — Barisan Nasional (BN) deputy chairman Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan wants all component party leaders of the coalition at the divisional and state levels not to discuss issues concerning seat distribution for the 15th general election (GE-15). He said the matter should be handed over to leaders at the highest level and the BN political bureau in order to maintain harmony and avoid uneasy situations in BN.

"I have already advised in the BN meeting this morning that matters concerning the distribution of seats should not be touched first, it should be left to the presidents of the party and the BN Political Bureau. (Later) we will present our strategy and from there we will look at it overall.

He told reporters this after a meeting with the Kedah BN election machinery here today.

Mohamad was confident that once the matter had been decided at the highest level, state and division leaders would be able to accept the decision.

He said so far, the position of seats between parties in BN remains status quo and BN leaders at the highest level have also not discussed the matter.

He said at the moment BN was collecting information on preparations at the state and division level, after which a report will be handed over to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

Meanwhile, Mohamad, who is also Umno deputy president, said the party had written to the Registrar of Societies (RoS) regarding the application to amend the party's constitution and hoped that a decision can be made by July 31 at the latest.

"Give a ‘yes’ or ‘no’. If it is a ‘yes’ then Syukur Alhamdulillah, if ‘no’, then we will have to make an appeal to the (Home) minister. We need to be ready, because our tenure as party office-bearers expires at the end of the year.

"If there is a need for party elections, we have to hold meetings... 22,000 branches and 191 divisions is not an easy task, we do not want the matter to prolong and risk (party) dissolution,” he said. — Bernama