Johor BN chief optimistic with previous state election formula, party can capture GE15 voters

SIMPANG RENGGSM, Nov 16 — Barisan Nasional’s (BN) supermajority win in the Johor state election early this year, will be used as a guide for the coalition in the 15th general election (GE15), said Johor BN chairman Datuk Seri Hasni Mohammad.

He said that the approach of supporting the people, especially the voters in the state election, was still appropriate and relevant to be employed for the GE15.

“Although there are different issues between the state election and the general election, constant engagements from all BN state assemblyman and the candidates themselves have managed to clarify issues to the people.

“We also know that at the national polls level the issues are different, so we need to use various methods to engage and clarify.

“For Johor, all 26 parliamentary constituencies have government assemblymen or representatives and they are responsible for disseminating information, that's BN's advantage,” said Hasni during a dialogue session with the Renggam community at Taman Sri Jaya here today.

In the Johor state election in March, BN won 40 of the 56 State Legislative Assembly seats that were contested. This gave the BN coalition a supermajority win.

Hasni, who is also a BN candidate for the Simpang Renggam parliamentary constituency, said his experience as a former Johor mentri besar and a former Pontian MP was useful in resolving the people’s problems.

For example in Renggam, the Benut assemblyman said there is an issue involving housing woes and the first thing is to discuss with Sime Darby or the land owners in the area so that the residential project can be developed immediately.

“I am confident that with my experience, there are various offers that can be given to developers as an incentive for them to see that Renggam is an area that can be developed,” said Hasni.

Hasni, seen as a progressive and moderate BN leader, is known to have a pleasant demeanour and is diplomatic with all parties. He has been credited with BN’s supermajority win during the Johor state election in March.

Hasni will be taking on Pakatan Harapan’s Maszlee Malik, who is the incumbent MP and former federal minister, Fazrul Kamat of Perikatan Nasional and Kamal Kusmin of Gabungan Tanah Air in a four-cornered contest.