TO wrest Selangor from Pakatan Harapan, Barisan Nasional must win the 37 Malay-majority seats of the state, Najib Razak said.

The 25 state and 12 federal seats have about 60% Malay voters, said the BN advisory board chairman.

“BN must work hard,” said the former prime minister at the coalition’s Selangor convention in Setia Alam, this morning.

There are 56 state constituencies in Selangor. In the 2018 general election, PH won 51 of them,  BN four, and PAS one.

BN won the 2004 election when it swept 54 seats but lost to the opposition in 2008 when it won only 20.

Since then PH has governed the richest state in the country.

Najib said BN must make up for the humiliation of losing the state and the federal government in in 2018.

The Pekan MP said Selangor BN must present candidates who are qualified and competent to win urban voters.

Selangor BN must have a “poster boy” who can win the people’s hearts, he said.

“In the urban areas, if the person is not hardworking, people will not vote for him. They must see if there is style and substance in our candidates.”

He said the BN machinery must reach out to urban voters through residents’ associations, focus groups, and community leaders.

“(BN can) approach focus groups, gatherings of community leaders, have a relaxing drink with them at a kopitiam or mamak stall and discuss local problems.

“You can’t get into condominiums, gated communities; ,we have to think about how to campaign in urban areas.

He said Selangor BN should exploit the weaknesses of the PH state government, which, according to him, was ineffective.

Under the PH administration in the last 10 years, the state GDP had grown the slowest compared to other states, he said.

“I have checked the data, in the 10 years after PH took over Selangor in 2008, Selangor’s GDP grew by only 88.7%.

“The GDP of other states grew more rapidly – KL by 148.5%; Pahang 105.8%; Malacca 107.5; Labuan 137.6%. This means that in the 10 years under the PH administration in Selangor, economic development has been slower than other states in the country.

“This must tell the voters in Selangor that PH’s track record is not very encouraging. This is data, I am not lying,” he said, adding that the data was from the Statistics Department.

He reminded the BN grassroots to be more flexible about the distribution of seats among the coalition’s components to ensure victory.

“Most of the seats in Selangor are 40% non-Malay. We must be focused to win. Our machinery must be focused regardless of whether Umno, MCA or MIC candidates are standing for election.

“The goal is to win.” – July 31, 2022.