©The Star (Used by permission) - Saturday February 16, 2008 <= /title>  <style>  </style>  </head> <body lang=3DMS style=3D'tab-interval:35.4pt'> <div class=3DSection1> ©<a href=3D"http://www.thestar.com.my/" target=3D"_blank">The Star</a> (Used by permission)<= /b> - Saturday February 16, 2008 = <o:p></o:p> Perak BN sees 16 hot seats<o:p></o:p></= p> IPOH: Although the Barisan Nasional is confident of retaining the two-th= irds majority in Perak, the ruling coalition has identified 12 “problematic” state and four parliamentary seats .<o:p></o:p></= p> Perak Barisan Nasional chief Datuk Seri Mohamad Tajol Rosli Ghazali said= the ruling coalition could retain all state seats won in the last election, exc= ept for a few “problematic” constituencies.<o:p></o:p> The Umno “problematic state seats” were Gunung Semanggol, Bo= ta, Kamunting, and Changkat Jong, he said after meeting the state Barisan Youth election machinery yesterday.<o:p></o:p> Tajol Rosli said the MCA had a “fighting chance” in Keranji = and Jelapang, which are held by the DAP, while the DAP had the potential to ret= ain Pasir Pinji and win back Buntong, Bercham and Tebing Tinggi.<o:p></o:p> He added that the MIC would face some problems in Pasir Panjang, Sungkai= and Behrang while Jalong was deemed “difficult” for Gerakan.<o:p></= o:p> Pasir Pinji, Bercham, Tebing Tinggi, Sungkai and Jalong are Chinese majo= rity seats while Buntong has some 46% Indian voters, Behrang has some 44% non-Ma= lay voters and Pasir Panjang has 35% non-Malay voters.<o:p></o:p> As for the parliamentary constituencies, Tajol Rosli pointed out that the fight was in Kinta Valley where it would be difficult for Barisan to regain Ipoh Timor and Batu Gajah, adding: “We cannot win back Ipoh Timor and Batu Gajah but we will give them a run for their money. We think we can win back Ipoh Barat.”<o:p></o:p> He also stressed that there were four parliamentary seats deemed “difficult” for Barisan. They are Parit Buntar, Beruas, Lumut a= nd Taiping.<o:p></o:p> Tajol Rosli said the issues faced in those “difficult” seats were a mix of national and local matters.<o:p></o:p> “In 2004, we did not have Hindraf and Bersih (Coalition for clean = and fair elections),” he said.<o:p></o:p> He urged the Indian community to support the MIC in the general election= .<o:p></o:p> <![if !supportLineBreakNewLine]> <![endif]> </div> </body> </html>

MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Location: file:///C:/516412F3/PerakBNsees16hotseats.htm Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset="us-ascii" ©The Star (Used by permission) - Saturday February 16, 2008 <= /title>  <style>  </style>  </head> <body lang=3DMS style=3D'tab-interval:35.4pt'> <div class=3DSection1> ©<a href=3D"http://www.thestar.com.my/" target=3D"_blank">The Star</a> (Used by permission)<= /b> - Saturday February 16, 2008 = <o:p></o:p> Perak BN sees 16 hot seats<o:p></o:p></= p> IPOH: Although the Barisan Nasional is confident of retaining the two-th= irds majority in Perak, the ruling coalition has identified 12 “problematic” state and four parliamentary seats .<o:p></o:p></= p> Perak Barisan Nasional chief Datuk Seri Mohamad Tajol Rosli Ghazali said= the ruling coalition could retain all state seats won in the last election, exc= ept for a few “problematic” constituencies.<o:p></o:p> The Umno “problematic state seats” were Gunung Semanggol, Bo= ta, Kamunting, and Changkat Jong, he said after meeting the state Barisan Youth election machinery yesterday.<o:p></o:p> Tajol Rosli said the MCA had a “fighting chance” in Keranji = and Jelapang, which are held by the DAP, while the DAP had the potential to ret= ain Pasir Pinji and win back Buntong, Bercham and Tebing Tinggi.<o:p></o:p> He added that the MIC would face some problems in Pasir Panjang, Sungkai= and Behrang while Jalong was deemed “difficult” for Gerakan.<o:p></= o:p> Pasir Pinji, Bercham, Tebing Tinggi, Sungkai and Jalong are Chinese majo= rity seats while Buntong has some 46% Indian voters, Behrang has some 44% non-Ma= lay voters and Pasir Panjang has 35% non-Malay voters.<o:p></o:p> As for the parliamentary constituencies, Tajol Rosli pointed out that the fight was in Kinta Valley where it would be difficult for Barisan to regain Ipoh Timor and Batu Gajah, adding: “We cannot win back Ipoh Timor and Batu Gajah but we will give them a run for their money. We think we can win back Ipoh Barat.”<o:p></o:p> He also stressed that there were four parliamentary seats deemed “difficult” for Barisan. They are Parit Buntar, Beruas, Lumut a= nd Taiping.<o:p></o:p> Tajol Rosli said the issues faced in those “difficult” seats were a mix of national and local matters.<o:p></o:p> “In 2004, we did not have Hindraf and Bersih (Coalition for clean = and fair elections),” he said.<o:p></o:p> He urged the Indian community to support the MIC in the general election= .<o:p></o:p> <![if !supportLineBreakNewLine]> <![endif]> </div> </body> </html>