He said regardless of who contests, the party was convinced that voters in Langkawi would be able to see what the state and federal governments had done to develop the island.
“Even if (former prime minister) Dr Mahathir Mohamad or anyone else wants to contest, they can, but in the end Langkawi folks will lose out,” he said in a blog post.
Talk has been rife about Mahathir contesting in either Langkawi, his old seat of Kubang Pasu or Putrajaya, although the general opinion is that he should contest in Langkawi.
Bashah said Langkawi folks should not choose Mahathir based solely on the fact that he had done a lot for the island.
“As the country’s leader then, it was his responsibility to develop Langkawi.
“Now, the job to develop Langkawi lies on the shoulders of Prime Minister Najib Razak.
“I urge Langkawi people not to be confused in this situation. If not for BN, Mahathir would not have been able to develop Langkawi, as only BN representatives would be able to bring development to the island, and anywhere else for that matter.”
Bashah, who is also Kedah Umno liaison chairman, took aim at Mahathir’s party, PPBM, saying it was incapable of leading Pakatan Harapan (PH) in Kedah due to infighting among PPBM, DAP, PKR and Amanah.
“They (the opposition) themselves are confused. Just look at the tussle over the seats that is still ongoing.
“If they can’t even settle that, how are they to govern the country?
“The people are not stupid. They can judge for themselves. They are also sick and tired,” he added.
The Langkawi seat is presently held by Nawawi Ahmad, who defeated PKR’s Ahmad Abdullah in the 13th general election with an 11,861-vote majority.