SEREMBAN: Umno’s GE15 candidates may not necessarily be restricted to those recommended by its divisions, says Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan (pic).
The Umno deputy president and Barisan Nasional election director said the final decision will be made by the party leadership as the priority was to win.
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“Every division was asked to submit a minimum of five names but the candidate may not necessarily be from that list.
“If the leadership thinks we need someone from outside the division to win a particular seat, we will pick that candidate,” he said, adding that the state liaison committees would be briefed on this.
He said it was also not compulsory for a potential candidate to have a position in that particular division to stand a chance of being nominated.
Mohamad said all the divisions have submitted their candidates’ lists and the party leadership was now going through them.
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He said it was still too early to name the candidates as the proposed names need to be vetted.
“We need to send the names for security screening, among others.
“And as part of our strategy, we are still looking at potential candidates to contest against opponents considered as heavyweights,” he said when met after chairing the monthly state Umno meeting here on Friday (Oct 14).
Separately, Mohamad expressed hope the campaigning period for GE15 will be “short and sweet”.
He said it was pointless to have a long period as many quarters have practically been campaigning since the last GE.
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“We have people going around in trucks campaigning for a long time now.
“So it baffles me why there are people asking for a longer campaigning period,” he said.
Mohamad said certain quarters had been against the dissolution of Parliament due to the inclement weather forecast for the end of the year, but were in favour of a longer campaigning period.
He said if possible, GE15 should be held in early November and not at the end of the month or in December.
Political analysts have also said it would be better to keep the campaign period short considering the risk of floods.
Malaysia saw the shortest campaign period of only eight days in 2004 and nine days in 1999 when the general election was held in November.
In 2018, the campaign period was 11 days while in 2013, it was 15 days.
Asked his preferred date for polling, Mohamad said he would be happy if it could be held on Nov 5.
“If you ask me, my favourite number is five. However, it is entirely up to the Election Commission,” he added.
The EC will meet on Oct 20 to discuss the nomination and polling dates for GE15.