JELEBU: Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Zahid Hamidi says Negeri Sembilan Umno chief Jalaluddin Alias is the party’s top candidate among several potential contenders for the post of menteri besar, says Barisan Nasional chairman Zahid Hamidi.
However, he reminded the public that the appointment of the menteri besar is subject to the consent of the Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan, Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir.
While campaigning in Chennah, the BN chief said Umno secretary-general Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki had said there are 10 candidates for the post “and all 10 are of good quality, but Jalal is number one, subject to the Ruler’s consent”.
He also took aim at two hot seats considered to be strongholds of Pakatan Harapan leaders.
“I hope my reading is not wrong: if we wrest Chennah, it means we have captured Negeri Sembilan. Likewise, if we retain Linggi, it is ‘confirmed’ that Negeri Sembilan will be under BN,” he said.
Chnnah is the seat of DAP secretary-general Loke Siew Fook, who seeks re-election, while Linggi is the base of Negeri Sembilan Pakatan Harapan chairman Aminuddin Harun, the outgoing menteri besar.
Zahid responds to Hannah Yeoh
Zahid also dismissed a DAP leader’s remarks that the cooperation between BN and Perikatan Nasional was doomed to fail.
Hannah Yeoh, the DAP deputy secretary-general, had said earlier today that the BN-PN agreement would eventually “sink like the Titanic”.
Zahid told reporters: “We will see who sinks and who survives in the end.”
BN and PN have an informal electoral agreement under which BN is contesting 25 seats in the Aug 1 election, while the PAS-led PN is contesting 11. Pakatan Harapan is contesting on its own in all 36 state assembly seats.
Earlier today, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang expressed hope that his party’s cooperation with Umno through the BN-PN electoral pact in Negeri Sembilan would endure despite their chequered history.
Speaking at a press conference after delivering the Friday prayers sermon at Masjid Kampung Rusila in Marang, Hadi acknowledged that PAS and Umno had experienced ups and downs in their relationship, but said such setbacks were normal.
