ANINA WANTS TO TAKE ON NAJIB IN PEKAN

Former Umno member who became famous for lashing out at the prime minister while in the party confirms intention to contest in Najib’s stronghold in GE14.

(FMT) – Anina Saadudin, the former Umno member who garnered fame for mocking Najib Razak for “peeing” on party members, wants take on the prime minister in his parliamentary stronghold of Pekan.

Now a Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) member, Anina confirmed to FMT her intention to run against Najib, who is Umno president and Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman, in the upcoming 14th General Election (GE14).

“Yes,” she said in a text message when asked to confirm the plan today.

The co-founder of PPBM has been actively promoting her candidacy for the Pekan seat, with her latest posting on her Facebook account being a poll asking her followers if they agree to her plan.

“Anda setuju?” (do you agree?), she wrote on the social media account last night, accompanied by a poster depicting her up against Najib.

Anina hit the limelight in August 2015 when a video clip of her criticising Najib went viral in the social media.

The recording, taken during an Umno event when she was still in the party’s Langkawi division, showed her saying: “Datuk Seri presiden dah kencing tiga juta ahli Umno. Dia kata tiga juta ahli Umno sokong penuh kepimpinan beliau.” (The president has peed on three million Umno members. He said three million Umno members fully support his leadership”)

Anina, who was removed as PPBM women’s wing chief last December, has been vocal about alleged wrongdoings of Umno as the ruling party and Najib.

She had not spoken about the Pekan seat until Khairuddin Abu Hassan announced a plan to form a new opposition outfit with former Umno leader Ezam Mohd Noor.

Ezam, a former senator and communications director at the finance ministry, has also expressed his intention to contest the Pekan seat as well.

Khairuddin told FMT he was aware of Anina’s wish to be fielded in Pekan. He said while the Pakatan Harapan leadership will have the final say, he believed Ezam would be a better choice.

“We (he and Ezam) believe that as long as we can be on Pekan’s grounds for five months, we will be able to deliver the seat for PH. We strongly believe we can win the seat,” he said.

“But the decision is not ours, it’s up to PH. If they say we can’t contest there, then we will accept the decision because our main goal is to topple Umno-BN,” he added.

“And while I respect Anina’s wish, I think Ezam has better locus standi because he had served in the finance ministry under Najib’s administration.”

Ezam left Umno when Anwar Ibrahim was sacked from the party in 1998 to help form Keadilan (later PKR). He then left PKR in 2008 to rejoin Umno.

Khairuddin, who is a former Batu Kawan Umno vice-chief, stressed on the value of Ezam’s direct experience with the inner workings of the finance ministry, saying facts and figures are much better than empty talk during election campaigns.

“So let him be the one to face Najib.”

PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli commented last week that removing Najib from the Pekan seat would be an uphill task as the prime minister is deeply entrenched there.

Najib was elected to the seat in 1976, when he was only 23 years old. Despite the strong fight put up by the opposition, Najib has always come out victorious.

In the last general election (GE13), Najib defeated PKR candidate Mohd Fariz Musa with a majority of 35,613 votes.