Negri Sembilan Umno liaison committee chairperson Mohamad Hasan has denied the allegation that Umno does not need the other Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties to win in the next general election.

Mohamad, who is also the Menteri Besar, said his speech at the opening of the Seremban Umno division delegates’ meeting last Saturday had been twisted by certain quarters.

“What I tried to stress at that meeting was that we, the Umno members, should view the 14th general election (GE14) as a very important and stiff general election.

“Everyone must work hard to ensure victory for the party.

“It’s the same for the other BN component parties, must work hard, otherwise die lah. But I had used the word ‘mapuih’, from my village (Malay) dialect, which also means difficult,” he said at a news conference which was attended by all state BN component party leaders in Seremban today.

They included Negri Sembilan MCA chief Lim Chin Fui, state MIC representative VS Morgan, state Gerakan chief David Choong Vee Hing and state BN secretary Hashim Rusdi.

Mohamad said Negri Sembilan Umno needed to retain the 22 seats won in the last general election to enable the party to continue leading the state government administration.

He said he had also suggested to Umno president and Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to look again at the seat distribution formula.

“Why not we make a review so that in the 14th general election, we will have a strategic distribution of seats, whereby those seats with Malay-majority constituents be given to Umno to contest because if we do that, there’s a chance for Umno to win (those seats).

“And to be fair, I also suggested in exchange for that, we give senatorship to our friends (the other BN components).

“There’s no use for us to stick to the old formula but we don’t win. What is more scary if we then can't form a government,” he said.

“If at all I’ve been misinterpreted, I’m sorry. If at all the listeners think that way, that I intended to belittle and deny the role of the other BN component parties, I tender my apology,” he added.

Jempol MIC division chief L Manickam said he believed that Mohamad had no intention to sweep aside the role of the other BN component parties.

“I think the statement by Mohamad had been twisted. I've never seen Mohamad as thinking that way.

“So, when some people contacted me over his statement, I said that I was 100 percent sure that he did not intend it that away,” said Manickam.

- Bernama