IPOH, Aug 16 — Umno’s Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad today indicated there will be no change to the allocation of seats for each party within the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition for the time being.
Saarani, who is Perak BN chairman, was responding to MIC president Tan Sri SA Vigneswaran’s push to have more candidates from his party contest in the 15th general election.
“For us, whichever seats we contest in, there is potential to win. If there is no potential to win, then there is no point contesting.
“So any party, no matter Umno, MIC or MCA, whoever is contesting, is to win. Only after winning can we form the government and appoint state executive councillors.
“So the important thing is they need to make sure they win wherever they contest,” he told reporters after attending a function at the Indera Mulia Stadium here.
Saarani made it clear that for now, each of the BN component parties in Perak would field candidates in the same seats as they did in the 14th general election, whether they won or lost.
He said any change will have to come from the BN central leadership.
“So far at the state level it remains status quo for the seat allocation,” he said.
Last Saturday, Vigneswaran said that MIC is keen to have a representative in the Perak state executive council to deal with issues affecting the Indian community.
Vigneswaran said the matter was discussed with BN chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, as it was vital for the coalition to learn from the mistakes made in GE14.
