SEREMBAN: Umno has solved arising issues in constituencies where their incumbents were dropped, says Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.The Barisan deputy chairman said the coalition will remain focused on its efforts to win GE15 and not be affected by the Opposition.
He added the coalition was also under no pressure as it already had an indication of which seats it can win or where it needs to work harder.
“Barisan is under no pressure and the others can claim whatever they want.
“We know which are the white, grey and grey-black seats for us and we will remain focused on our campaign,” he said when met at his operations centre in Rantau yesterday.
‘White seats’ refer to safe seats while grey or black seats refer to seats that are in danger of falling to the Opposition.
Mohamad, who is also Umno deputy president, said although there were some minor problems in two or three constituencies where incumbents were dropped, these issues had already been resolved.
On Tuesday, PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli said Pakatan Harapan was in a good position to form the Federal Government and could win more than 80 seats.
Meanwhile, Mohamad said he had also met all 191 Umno division heads personally to gauge support for Barisan in their areas.
He said Barisan is also confident of doing well based on the support given by young and first-time voters during the Johor state polls.
He said based on past experience when Barisan was leading the Federal Government, many younger voters tended to support the Opposition.
“But this has now changed as the young want political stability, unlike what we have seen in the past four years (under Pakatan Harapan), and need leaders who can steer this nation to greater heights,” he added.
On Negri Sembilan, Mohamad said based on the coalition’s findings, it should be able to win up to six of the eight parliamentary seats.
Mohamad said Barisan should win in Jelebu, Jempol, Kuala Pilah, Tampin and Rembau while it has a fair chance of wresting Port Dickson from Pakatan.
Citing an example, he said Barisan only lost Kuala Pilah by a 200-vote majority in GE14 in 2018 although it won all four state seats under the constituency.
Asked on his chances in Rembau, the former three-term mentri besar said his campaign was more focused in Paroi, which was one of the four state seats under the constituency.
He said more work has to be put in Paroi, which was won by Pakatan in 2018 as it had the most voters compared with the three other seats.
“Barisan has taken good care of Rantau, Chembong and Kota for the longest time as these are our seats.
“But since I am also Barisan’s coordinating chairman for Paroi, we will have to focus more in the area which has over 50,000 voters,” he added.
Mohamad has been the Rantau assemblyman since 2004.