KLANG: Barisan Nasional must also win the popular votes in the upcoming 14th general election.
Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin said this is vital so that no one can question the credibility of BN in garnering people’s support in the event the party achieves victory in the election.
“Everybody knows that whoever gets the majority of seats in Parliament can form a government.
“However, we (BN) must also go after popular votes so that nobody can question (our victory), although the fact is that, our country’s constitution and the law, recognises whoever has majority in Parliament forms a valid government.
“This election we want to come out victorious in securing majority in the Parliament as well as popular votes,” he told reporters in Rantau Panjang, Kapar Thursday night.
Khairy spoke to reporters after he launched the Kapar Umno Division’s party wings and branches meeting.
He said this was among the reasons why BN is going to give more focus in the urban areas.
“Maybe at some urban areas it is hard for us to win, but our aim is to increase our popular votes at these areas.
“This, for me, plays a crucial part to determine whether we would be able to return the majority of popular votes to BN or not.”
During his keynote speech at the launching, Khairy also reminded Umno members, especially in urban areas dominated by the opposition, to work hard in engaging voters.
He said the work of the BN machinery at urban areas also has impact to their candidates in rural locations, as many rural voters comprise of those who work in the cities.
Giving Kelantan as an example, Khairy said he was informed that BN would have won the state long time ago if it were up to voters who live there.
“It was young voters from Kelantan who return from the cities during election, taking home all sorts of ideologies planted in them by the Opposition, who influenced their families and relatives to go against BN.”