Dr M's 'hero' - BN man who withdrew to make way for Perkasa chief

UMNO strongman Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he was prepared to defend BN’s Pasir Mas candidate Che Johan Che Pa in the event the latter is hauled up before UMNO’s disciplinary board.

On April 20, Che Johan, picked by UMNO president Najib Razak to contest in Pasir Mas against PAS's Nik Mohamad Abduh Nik Abdul Aziz, refused to submit his nomination papers in order to give way to the leader of UMNO ally Perkasa, Ibrahim Ali .

“I’m a lawyer without qualification but I can argue if I want to. I think not only Che Johan is not guilty, in fact I want to see more people (like Che Johan) sacrifice for the good of the party and not for one's self,” Mahathir was quoted as saying by Sinar Harian during his trip to Pasir Mas to help in Ibrahim's campaign.

Days before nomination day, Ibrahim expressed surprise that Najib had left him out if the coalition’s list of candidates, at the same time his subordinate, Perkasa vice president Zulkifli Noordin, was selected to stand as BN candidate in Shah Alam.

Prior to this, Harakahdaily reported of an anonymous SMS claiming Che Johan would eventually make way during nomination day for Ibrahim - now proven to be true.

While UMNO promised to take action against Che Johan, observers said this was unlikely given that he had made way to one of UMNO's most ardent supporters.

Ibrahim won the Pasir Mas seat in 2008 on a PAS ticket.

-Harakahdaily