KUALA SELANGOR, Oct 20 — Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said today Barisan Nasional (BN) will prioritise winning the upcoming general election (GE15) before entertaining discussions of political alliances.
However, the Umno vice-president stressed that any decision on cooperation with other political parties outside BN would be made under the party supreme council’s discretion.
"Anything on political cooperation must be decided by the party; anyone, doesn’t matter if it’s [Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia] or PAS that wants to work with us, it must be decided by the party and will be brought to the party’s supreme council meeting.
"Our focus now is on winning the GE15. We have to win the general election and only then we can talk about cooperation or forming alliances,” he told reporters after launching the Keluarga Malaysia Entrepreneurship and Cooperative Carnival here.
Ismail Sabri also said that he hopes to defend his Bera parliamentary constituency in the upcoming GE15, but will leave this to the party to decide.
He added that Umno will ensure that the 30 per cent quota for women candidates is upheld.
The carnival that saw approximately 10,000 attendants from across the country was also attended by caretaker Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz and Selangor BN chairman Tan Sri Noh Omar.
Earlier today, the Election Commission announced that the polling day will be on November 19, with early voting on November 15 and nomination day on November 5.
