Shahrir Abdul Samad is raring to contest and defend his Johor Bahru parliamentary seat in the 14th General Election and face any "heavyweight" opposition candidate.

"Initially, I predicted the GE14 to be plain sailing. But then I hear these things about people coming to Johor including (Shah Alam MP) Khalid Abd Samad, so I thought, since everyone is interested in Johor, I too want to be in the game and face them in any situation.”

Shahrir told reporters this after a "4 All" dialogue in Johor Bahru last night, which was also attended by Umno Information chief Annuar Musa and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Wee Ka Siong, who is also MCA deputy president.

The Felda chairman was commenting on the opposition’s plan to make Johor as a “frontline state” in GE14.

He reiterated that he would not retreat but was ready to face off with any formidable candidate from the opposition in the parliamentary constituency.

"With their Mahathir (Mohamad)...their Anwar (Ibrahim) and their Muhyiddin (Yassin), and (Lim) Kit Siang...They all want to make Johor as their frontline state, so I cannot just retreat,” he said.

Meanwhile, Annuar said the culture of hopping from one place to another to contest in the general election was not a culture that BN preferred.

"Frontline states for us (BN) means all the states, because we want to govern Malaysia. For us, it is not a question of hinging on just one state.

"We don’t go for Lim Kit Siang’s way of politics. He repays voters by uprooting himself when he is no longer interested in serving them. But let the voters judge his actions,” he said.

On the "4 All" dialogue programme, Annuar said it would also be held in 15 other areas in Penang, Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu and Sabah.

He said the programme was ongoing, and will involve 100 parliamentary constituencies nationwide.

"Ever since its launch, we have stepped up the audience momentum to thousands (live on Facebook) and this development is indeed very heartening,” he said.

- Bernama