Fielding Zul Noordin cost BN seats, decries MIC leader

VIDEO | 77 min

Fielding Perkasa vice-president Zulkifli Noordin as the Shah Alam candidate in the May 5 general election was a poor strategy, said a BN panelist at a talk show last night.

"I think if Zulkifli was not fielded as a candidate, BN would have easily won another 20 parliamentary seats.

"If you look at the demographics of Kota Raja, Kapar, and Shah Alam - all the areas that are near where Zulkifli contested - we have a high population of Indians," said MIC strategic committee deputy chairperson Madhu Marimuthu.

Another panelist, MCA vice-president Gan Ping Sieu, agreed with Madhu, saying that contesting Zulkifli (right) was a poor decision, something which he could not comprehend.

Nonetheless, he contended the outcome was a good one for the nation.

"The people have spoken and at least Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak can now say, ‘Not that I don't want to try, but this is not what the people want.'

"At least, he can explain to Umno or the Malay committee, ‘Look, a leader of this nature is, sorry, out of time.' A racist is something to be ashamed of," he said.

They were speaking at a live talk show with KiniTV last night about BN's future, touching on issues such as Umno's dominance in the ruling coalition, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's influence in Umno, deaths in custody, and the possibility of BN becoming a single party. Also on the panel was Umno's Pulai MP Nur Jazlan.

Both Perkasa leaders defeated

Zulkifli, the firebrand leader of the Malay rights pressure group, was the only non-BN member to contest under the BN ticket.

He was caught on video belittling the Hindu religion, which he claims was recorded 10 years ago when he was in PAS.

Nevertheless, this became a campaign issue where evenMIC leaders urgedIndian Malaysians not to support him, and Zulkifli eventually lost to PAS candidate Khalid Samad by 10,939 votes.

Meanwhile, another Perkasa leader, Ibrahim Ali (left), who contested as an Independent to defend his Pasir Mas seat in Kelantan, was also defeated.