SEREMBAN: Barisan Nasional (BN) is aiming to win at least 112 parliamentary seats in the 15th General Election (GE15).
BN deputy chairman Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said BN must garner more than 112 seats in the Dewan Rakyat to ensure that the coalition can form a government.
To command a simple majority in the 222-seat Dewan Rakyat, a party or coalition has to win 112 seats, whereas a two-thirds majority is 148. A hung Parliament is a result of both sides winning 111 seats.
"So far we (BN) have not talked about the seat target, but we want to win and we must get or pass 112 seats to make sure we can form a government in the next election.
"That's our target. So if we can win a lot more, it's better," he said.
"There are many of us who narrowly lost because of local issues, and this needs to be resolved immediately so as not to repeat the mistakes that took place in GE14," he told reporters here today.
Mohamad, who is the Umno deputy president, said this after opening the Rembau Umno division meeting today.
He added that BN would, in the meantime, carry out a survey on the voters' perception of the coalition.
Mohamed, who is also the Rembau Umno division chief, said party branches in the voting district centres would carry out the survey.
"The attitude study we did before needs to be streamlined because voters' attitude has changed according to current situations and issues," he said.
He said the voters' perception study was important for BN to help it keep track of its federal seat target.
Meanwhile, he said the GE15 seat distribution talks among BN component parties had yet to be completed.
"Our component parties have not decided (on the seats), although we have discussed and the (BN) secretariat will meet with the combined leadership of MCA, MIC and GRS to ensure that the distribution of seats is carried out as best as possible," he said.
On preparations for GE15, Mohamad said that it was going smoothly and the election machinery had been activated and was currently being streamlined.