LENGGONG: Perak Barisan Nasional (BN) has made it clear that it will not provide an easy path for Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), which aims to capture the state in the 16th General Election (GE-16).
Perak BN chairman Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad, however, welcomed the early announcement by Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin regarding the party's ambition to take over Perak.
Saarani, who is also the Perak menteri besar, viewed this as an opportunity for BN to prepare and defend its position in the state.
"By announcing early, we can prepare ourselves. They have revealed their intention to attack, so we have our machine guns and equipment ready.
"I can't just give it away for free, right? Politics is about power. Everyone wants to win, gain power, and will find ways to achieve it.
"Their mistake was announcing it early. We also have our own targeted states, but we can't reveal them yet.
"If we announce early, people will prepare their defenses. BN also has plans to capture certain states, but we can't talk about them yet."
He said this during a press conference after closing the Jelajah Sejahtera Desaku programme at Dataran Tasik Raban here today.
Saarani added that Bersatu's early announcement would give BN Perak an advantage to strategise effectively and described Bersatu's attempt to seize the state as no easy feat.
During Bersatu's seventh Annual General Assembly in Shah Alam on Nov 30, Muhyiddin said Perikatan Nasional (PN) was confident it could gain control of three states — Pahang, Perak and Selangor — in GE16.
Muhyiddin said the confidence was based on the growing support for PN in those states. However, he also acknowledged the challenges ahead, given the competition.