PUTRAJAYA: Barisan Nasional component parties will meet to discuss how best the coalition can remain solid and help the unity government candidate in the Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election, says Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.

While he believed there was no issue of a boycott, the Barisan deputy chairman said the coalition would call its members to “exchange ideas and views”.

“I don’t think there is a boycott. We will have the meeting soon, before nomination day. We will discuss in the spirit of Barisan,” he said at the Foreign Ministry’s Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house here yesterday.

Mohamad, who is Umno deputy president, was asked to comment on the stand by MCA and MIC that they would not campaign in the by-election if the unity government candidate was not from Barisan. 

Barisan chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim would meet with MCA and MIC leaders over their decision not to join the Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election campaign.

Mohamad said political parties in the unity government have an understanding that the candidate in any by-election would be from the party which won the seat in the last general election, adding that all parties had agreed to this after they formed the unity government post-GE15.

Mohamad, who is Foreign Minister, also pointed out that there was a similar understanding among Barisan component parties.

“What we want to ensure is that the candidate for the unity government wins. That is our collective responsibility,” he said.

Mohamad also dismissed talk that there was no camaraderie between the election machinery of Pakatan Harapan and Barisan.

He said several by-elections saw Pakatan and Barisan coming together to help the unity government candidate win.

He cited the Simpang Jeram by-election, which he described as “tricky” due to its voters composition as an example where good cooperation saw the outcome in favour of the unity government.

The Kuala Kubu Baharu seat fell vacant following the death of its assemblyman Lee Kee Hiong, 58, on March 21.

Nomination day is on Saturday, while polling is fixed for May 11.

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2024/04/23/well-discuss-in-spirit-of-barisan