Penang opposition leader Azhar Ibrahim will not be contesting in the coming general election if he had his way with his political bosses.

NONE Azhar ( left ), when met at the state legislative assembly today, said he had conveyed his intention to retire to his voters over the past one year.

“I have been in politics for about 30 years and have served as the people’s representative for 20 years.

“Besides, I have to consider my health problems and I would like to spend more time with my family,” he added.

Azhar, the Penaga Umno assemblyperson, said his departure would pave the way for the younger generation to be involved in politics.

He added that he had identified several potential candidates who could replace him.

However, his wish to step down depends on the decision of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak who is also the BN national chief.

“I cannot jump the gun and announce that I am going to step down,” he added.

On Umno’s chances of winning more seats in the polls, which has to be called not later than June next year, Azhar said the party had targetted 13 out of 15 seats.

“If fortunate enough, we may even capture up to 14 seats.

NONE “Malay and Indian voters are swinging back to BN. This is why Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng ( right ) said recently that he wants to sweep Penang clean.

“But today in the Dewan, he said there are two extreme possibilities,” he added.

Azhar was referring to Lim’s response when the former brought up part of his speech to “Let BN eat eggs” during DAP’s fund-raising dinner in Penang recently.

In front of nearly 3,000 people at the dinner, Lim urged his supporters to throw all their support behind Pakatan Rakyat to ensure the coalition will continue to rule the state.

Today, Lim highlighted two extreme possibilities which may happen after the polls - BN could obtain zero seats or Pakatan could lose the state.

Meanwhile, when asked about Umno’s partners in the BN and their confidence at the polls, Azhar said he could not speak for other component parties.

“We are all out to help each other. For instance, we are not contesting in Machang Bubuk and Jawi but we will still be campaigning there for the BN candidates,” he said.