PADANG TERAP: Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid said the party has the right to demand contesting in seats that Pakatan Harapan (PH) lost to Perikatan Nasional (PN) in the next general election.
Mahzir, who is also Kedah Umno liaison committee chairman, said there is a justification to push for the seats allocation review following the devastating 15th State Election results.
"Umno has the right to demand the review. In fact, it should be reviewed.
"There is nothing wrong with Alor Star Umno delegates speaking up by passing the resolution," he told reporters after opening the Padang Terap Umno division delegates' annual general meeting here today.
Mahdzir was commenting on the move by the Alor Star Umno division passing a resolution demanding Barisan Nasional (BN) contest the Kedah capital's parliamentary seat and one state seat in the constituency in the 16th general election (GE16).
The resolution was unanimously passed by 497 delegates who attended yesterday's divisional annual general meeting.
The delegates demanded the party to contest the Alor Star parliamentary seat and either the Suka Menanti or Alor Mengkudu state seat.
The Alor Star seat is currently held by Perikatan Nasional after Pas' Afnan Hamimi Taib Azamudden won the seat in GE15. Prior to that, PKR held the seat for two terms.
The Suka Menanti and Alor Mengkudu state seats are also held by PN.
In last year's state polls, PN wrested the seats from PKR and Amanah respectively.
Meanwhile, in a related matter, Mahdzir reminded Umno members not to allow themselves to be used as a tool to spread the opposition parties' propaganda.
"At times, a party is seen as being weak not because the opponents are stronger, but due to the action of its own members.
"When they heard propaganda coming from the opposing parties, they seemed to easily accept all the slanders without being bothered to verify them.
"At the end, we did not realise that we were being used by the other parties to destroy the party from within," he said.