October 18, 2022
SINGAPORE – At least 70 per cent of Barisan Nasional (BN) candidates in the upcoming Malaysian general election will be new faces, said coalition chief Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on Sunday.
The candidates will be individuals with academic qualifications and are highly committed to helping the people, he said at the delegates meeting of his Umno division in Bagan Datuk ward in Perak state, as quoted by Bernama news agency.
And BN will also try to fulfil the demand from its members that 30 per cent of the coalition’s candidates are women, he added.
Malaysia’s Parliament was dissolved on Oct 10 to pave the way for the 15th General Election (GE).
The Election Commission will soon announce the dates for nomination of candidates, the campaign period and polling day, which is expected to be in the first half of November.
Zahid said the decision to field new faces is a difficult one but something that must be done to meet people’s aspirations, Bernama reported.
“I need to be fair and as party president and Barisan chairman, it is also necessary for me to keep the old faces so that the partnership is stable and balanced,” he said.
Zahid said the full list of candidates has not been finalised.
BN is a four-party coalition led by Umno, with a total of 42 MPs. Zahid is Umno’s president and BN chairman.
Umno, Malaysia’s largest party by members, has 191 divisions around the country, except in Sarawak. Umno does not have any branches in Sarawak and relies on allied parties.
Zahid said BN will contest in 191 of the 222 parliamentary seats and for the first time, parties grouped under the Friends of Barisan banner would get the opportunity to contest on a BN ticket, Bernama reported.
A minimum of 112 seats are needed for a simple majority in Parliament.
The Friends of Barisan are small parties with no MPs or state assemblymen. They are Parti Cinta Malaysia, All Malaysian Indian Progress Front, Malaysian Indian Muslim Congress, Malaysian United Indian Party, Makkal Sakti and Punjabi Party of Malaysia.