MUAR, April 4 – Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sr
is confident that Johor will remain an Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) stronghold in the 13th general election. He said BN had certain strategies to ensure Johor remain a “blue state” although the opposition tried to infiltrate this Umno and BN fortress by choosing their influential leaders like Lim Kit Siang to contest in Johor in the upcoming elections.
“Whoever the (opposition) leaders coming to Johor to contest, we will fight them.
“I see that our party members in Johor are the least daunted by this development but even more spirited as they want to prove that Johor is indeed a BN stronghold, a ‘blue state’.”
Muhyddin, who is also Umno deputy president and BN deputy chairman, said this after opening the Pagoh BN election machinery meeting here today, which was also attended by its Pagoh BN chairman, Datuk Tahir Mohd Taat.
Muhyiddin noted that some opposition leaders had a fondness for hopping from one constituency to another, especially knowing that support for them in the constituency they currently held was declining.
“As they like to contest from one place to another, they have no loyalty to their voters. They think more of themselves than the party. “…they are not thinking about serving the local community, as what are important for them are material gains and self-interest. They move (to another constituency) on the excuse that it’s a political strategy.”
He said although the opposition might have their own groups of followers in the BN-held seats they wished to contest in, BN also had strong support in these areas. Muhyiddin also said that the call by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad for the Gelang Patah parliamentary seat be made the burial ground for DAP veteran Lim Guan Eng’s political career, should be taken as a challenge by the BN election machinery.
BERNAMA
