IPOH: Its status-quo for all 59 state seats in Perak to be contested by the Barisan Nasional (BN) in the 15th General Election (GE15).
Perak BN Chairman Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamed Said the decision of which candidate and party would contest in GE15 would be determined by the coalition's leadership.
"It is status quo unless there is a discussion and a decision made by the BN leadership.
"At the state level, it is still the same as before (as in 14th General Election)," he told reporters after attending a meet the people programme at the Indera Mulia Stadium here today.
Saarani was responding to a request by MIC President Tan Sri S. A. Vigneswaran who was hopeful the BN leadership would allocate at least one state seat, which the party has a high percentage of victory in GE15.
Vigneswaran said the move was meant to allow a representative to be appointed from MIC as a state executive councillor (exco) to help the Indian community.
Saarani who is the Perak Menteri Besar, said that any BN component party contesting in state seats in the upcoming GE must ensure victory for BN.
"We contest to win. What's the point of contesting if we want to lose?
"So, any party, whether it's Umno, MCA or MIC that competes, of course, we will contest to win.
"Once we win, we can form the government and appoint the Exco. So that is why it is important to win," he said.
In GE14, MIC contested three state seats in Perak namely Sungkai, Jelapang and Buntong and lost all three seats to DAP.
