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Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Who's in or out in BN's list


BN chairperson Najib Abdul Razak's list of candidates for the 13th general election - which comprises of many new faces - has presented a mixed bag of surprises.

There has been a large number of big names that were dropped, promoted, strategically demoted and with some downright strange choices as well.

Below is a list of key personalities, in no particular order, that has either been dropped or included in the list:

OUT

The Perak trio

All three former Pakatan Rakyat state assemblypersons - Hee Yit Foong, Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi and Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu - are not on the BN list, despite their 'important contributions' to Perak BN.

The trio had helped BN wrest back the state when they declared themselves as "BN-friendly Independents" in February 2009. Jamaluddin has since told the press that he will be defending his seat as an Independent.

Old timers 

Rais Yatim, 71, has had a long and illustrious political career since 1974 and was once the Negri Sembilan menteri besar, along with having a short stint as a Semangat 46 member. He is one of a handful of incumbent cabinet members not to be fielded in the coming GE13.

Seven-term Kangar MP Radzi Sheikh Ahmad, 71, has also been dropped in the upcoming polls, despite being the long-standing GE contender of the parliamentary seat since 1982.

Meanwhile, it is noted that fellow interim cabinet member Abu Seman Yusop, 69, was dropped after serving for two terms as the Masjid Tanah MP.

Another veteran - Zulhasnan Rafique, 59 - was not asked to defendSetiawangsa, which is a seat that he has held since 2004. Prior to that, he had been the MP for Wangsa Maju, which sits adjacent to the Setiawangsa parliamentary seat.

In Penang, Arif Shah Omar Shah, 57, is best known as the multi-lingual Umno leader whose grassroots' appeal helped him survive the so-called 2008 political tsunami and hold on to the Seberang Jayastate assembly seat.

BN's decision to field him against PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim during the Permatang Pauh by-election in 2008 can attest to his popularity. Thus, it is not surprising when questions arose as to why he was dropped this time around.

Not the president's men 

Despite their prominence, former MCA president Ong Tee Keat and his sidekick Gan Ping Sieu (a serving MCA vice-president) will not be fielded.

Ong - the two-term Pandan parliamentary seat incumbent - is being replaced by a novice, whereas Gan, a former state assemblyperson and currently the interim youth and sports minister, was not given a seat although he was earlier speculated to be fielded in either Kluang or Tebrau.

In this instance, it was obvious that getting on the party's top leader's good side is more important than public service and experience.

Party presidents 

Dr Chua Soi Lek (MCA), Koh Tsu Koon (Gerakan) and Peter Chin (SUPP) will not be fielded this time round. Both Koh and Chin are members of the interim cabinet. Koh and Chua will also go down in history as the first Gerakan and MCA president respectively not to contest in the general election.

IN

Najib's four musketeers 

Four member of Najib's office - Suffian Awang (Kuantan), Mohd Shafie Abdullah (Wangsa Maju), Salhan Ismail Nasution (Pokok Sena) and Irmohizam Ibrahim (Kuala Selangor) - will be fielded in parliamentary seats.

All four have been tasked with taking on tough seats which are currently held by Pakatan Rakyat. Of the four, Shafie may face some problems should MCA refuse to mobilise their party workers, who are upset that their party was not allowed to contest in Wangsa Maju.

Those punished for 'money politics' 

Two Umno bigwigs who were punished by their party for indulging in 'money politics' - Isa Samad (Jempol) and Mohd Ali Rustam (Bukit Katil) - have both been "upgraded" to contest in parliamentary seats.

Isa was suspended from Umno between 2005 and 2008 for allegations of inducing party delegates to vote for him during the 2004 party elections, which saw him winning a vice-president position.

Ali was disqualified from contesting for the Umno deputy presidency over similar allegations of inducing party delegates.

Should they win - and the odds do seem to favour them - and make it to the cabinet, Najib can be assured of two loyalists by his side.

The wildcards 

Perhaps the biggest surprise dropped by Najib was the inclusion of Zulkifli Noordin as a BN candidate for the Shah Alam parliamentary seat.

Zulkifli has had his share of supporters and detractors over his hardline stance over Islam and has been recently castigated over his provocative remarks on the Hindu community.

Given Zulkifli's tenuous relationship with any party he is in (he was previously sacked from both PAS and PKR), it would probably be more interesting for him to win and see how he behaves as a BN MP.

Another strange inclusion in the BN list is Selangor MCA Beliawanis chief Jessie Ooi, who is best remembered for her incoherent and screechy ramblings against DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng during a televised debate.

Ooi was being prepared by MCA to contest the Selayang parliamentary seat but is now being fielded in Kuala Kubu Baru, which is in an adjacent constituency.

Over at the People's Progressive Party (PPP), a last-minute switch resulted in the party fielding its president M Kayveas in Pasir Bedamar, a state seat in Perak that PPP has failed to win since 1999.

Kayveas was supposed to stay out of the polls this time around, but the party had been unable to find a suitable replacement for its candidate whom they had initially wanted, but who had then ended up in some trouble.

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