Umno grassroots in Lembah Pantai are reportedly ready for the party to re-contest the seat it had lost in the past three general elections, amid speculation that Bersatu will move to field its own candidate in the parliamentary constituency.
Online portal The Malaysian Insight quoted several Lembah Pantai Umno division members as rejecting Bersatu's rumoured move to field Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, who is currently a senator, in the seat in the 15th general election.
According to the report, Lembah Pantai Umno division chief Ramlan Askolani said the party still has an advantage in the seat now held by PKR communications director Fahmi Fadzil.
"Our advantage is that we have more strength, and grassroots machinery, compared to Bersatu or PAS.
“Bersatu has no more than 10 branches in Lembah Pantai, compared to Umno which has five times that number," Ramlan reportedly told The Malaysian Insight on the sidelines of the division’s annual meeting over the weekend.
He further said Bersatu's perceived weakness had drawn its supporters in Lembah Pantai to try and join the Umno division.
“Even though Umno lost the last three elections here, it was because of national issues being played up, and the truth is, the voters miss Umno’s services," Ramlan added.
The Lembah Pantai Parliament seat was traditionally held by Umno since its creation in 1984 up until GE12 in 2008 when PKR's Nurul Izzah Anwar made her electoral debut and defeated three-term incumbent Shahrizat Abdul Jalil.
Nurul Izzah also defeated then federal territories and urban wellbeing minister, Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainol Abidin, in GE13, before moving to contest and subsequently winning the Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat in GE14.
Ramlan insisted that Umno still had a strong claim to the Lembah Pantai seat as, despite losing in GE14, it took the second spot in the three-cornered fight with PKR and PAS, with a margin of more than 5,000 votes.
In the coming GE15, he said, Umno, with the cooperation of Bersatu and PAS, will have a good chance of reclaiming the seat, which has 63 percent Malay voters as of 2018.
"If the Malays stay united, and with Bersatu and PAS’ support (not to field their own candidates), I believe most Malays will vote for Umno," he was quoted as saying.
According to The Malaysian Insight, Tengku Zafrul has, since the third quarter of last year, appeared for visits and has held various functions in Lembah Pantai, although the former CIMB banker had reportedly denied harbouring any political ambitions.
'Umno grassroots will not accept Bersatu candidate'
Meanwhile, another Lembah Pantai Umno member, Ariffin Abu Nawas, reportedly said the party will not move its machinery to campaign for a Bersatu candidate
The Kg Pasir Lama Umno branch member said it would be absurd to expect the party grassroots to work for a Bersatu candidate in Lembah Pantai.
"What kind of election work do you want to do? Umno will not accept if they (Bersatu) want to name a candidate here and use our machinery.
"The grassroots will not accept it," the 60-year-old Ariffin was quoted as saying.
The anti-Bersatu sentiment has been a recurring theme across 189 out of 191 Umno divisions that held their annual general meetings last weekend, according to Utusan Malaysia.
The two divisions that did not take on the anti-Bersatu sentiment are based in Kelantan and Perlis, Malaysiakini understands that the Kelantan division is Ketereh Umno, which is led by BN secretary-general Annuar Musa, who has been criticised for his supposedly friendlier stand towards Bersatu.
Umno division leaders are reportedly expected to convene in Kuala Lumpur this morning to discuss its ties with Bersatu, before further deliberation on this matter by the party's supreme council members tomorrow. - Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.