KUALA LUMPUR: Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today announced that Umno’s annual general meeting (AGM) will be pushed to Dec 4-7 as Barisan Nasional will contest in the Tanjung Piai by-election, set for Nov 16.
However, the candidate will only be announced after a detailed study on the issue.
“We will ensure that all Umno and BN machinery will be concentrated at Tanjung Piai,” he said at a press conference after an Umno Supreme Council meeting this evening.
Asked whether the candidate will be from MCA or Umno, he simply said: “The candidate will be announced after the study has been completed.”
Umno had previously accused the Election Commission (EC) of deliberately fixing the date of the Tanjung Piai by-election in November so that it will clash with the party’s AGM, which was scheduled to be held from Nov 13-16.
The party’s secretary-general, Annuar Musa, said the decision favoured Pakatan Harapan.
“They hope this way, it will greatly disadvantage Umno. Indirectly, the EC is trying to help PH, especially PPBM, to retain the Tanjung Piai seat,” he said.
It was earlier reported that former Johor menteri besar Khaled Nordin is almost certain to be named as the Barisan Nasional candidate in the Tanjung Piai by-election, the first time a non-MCA man will contest the federal seat.
Sources in Umno previously told FMT that Khaled, who is an Umno vice-president, had received “the necessary blessings” from the top party leadership to represent BN.
Last Saturday, 88 Umno branch leaders passed a resolution demanding that BN choose a candidate from Umno.
The by-election was called following the death of its incumbent, PPBM’s Md Farid Md Rafik, last month.
EC has fixed Nov 16 as polling day and Nov 2 as nomination day, giving parties a two-week campaign period. - FMT
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