Umno to contest 37 seats in Johor polls

Umno will contest 37 seats in the Johor state election next month while MCA will contest 15 and MIC, four.

Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said more than 70% of the coalition’s candidates would be new faces.

He also said more than 80% have high academic qualifications and are below 55 years in age.

“We looked into several criteria with the concept of winnability, acceptability and likeability and we believe this team can become a game-changer and bring new hope to Johor,” he was quoted as saying by Bernama at an event to announce BN’s candidates for the polls at the Umno headquarters in Johor Bahru today.

The announcement was made by Johor BN chairman Hasni Mohammad.

Zahid said BN believed that the combination of candidates comprising professionals and those with experience would win over 700,000 votes from young voters following the implementation of Undi 18.

Zahid also announced that Hasni, who is BN’s poster boy for the state polls, would be appointed as Johor menteri besar if the coalition wins the state election.

Hasni meanwhile said MCA is still finalising the names of its candidates.

According to the list of candidates, 10 incumbents, eight of whom are from Umno and two from MIC, will defend their seats in the polls.

Hasni himself will be defending his Benut seat. The other seven seats to be defended by Umno incumbents are Buloh Kasap, Sri Medan, Semarang, Pasir Raja, Parit Raja, Panti and Tanjung Surat, while MIC will be defending its traditional Kahang and Tenggaroh seats.

Umno Supreme Council member Mohd Puad Zarkashi who lost in Batu Pahat at the 13th general election was named as BN’s candidate for Rengit, while former Bukit Serampang assemblyman Ismail Mohamed and former Layang-Layang assemblyman Abd Mutalip Abd Rahim will contest in Bukit Kepong and Layang-Layang, respectively.

Nomination for the state polls is on Saturday, while polling is on March 12.