GE14 not a popularity contest, Salleh tells opposition

The Umno treasurer says the opposition seems to have lost sight of the reason for a general election.

Salleh Said Keruak says elections are not personality contests or boxing matches.

KUALA LUMPUR: Umno’s Salleh Said Keruak today accused the opposition of treating the election like a popularity contest to see which candidates are more well liked.

In a blog post, he said general elections were not competitions between egos to see who could win personality contests.

Instead, he said, it was about who could better run the country and proposer its future.

“It appears that the opposition pact’s main purpose in GE14 is to field candidates in either sure-win constituencies or to defeat certain targeted candidates from Barisan Nasional (BN),” he added.

The Umno treasurer said the opposition pact was sending the wrong message to Malaysians by throwing challenges at politicians from other parties to stand against this or that person or to contest in a certain constituency to prove they were “anak jantan” (man enough).

This, he added, was not what democratic elections were about.

“This is not a boxing match to prove who is ‘lagi gagah dan berani’. What happened to the concept of service to the rakyat?”

The opposition is said to be fielding some of its strongmen against incumbents who are ministers or leaders of BN component parties.

DAP, for instance, is sending its chief political strategist Liew Chin Tong to take on MCA deputy president Wee Ka Siong in Ayer Hitam, Johor. Its Perak heavyweight Nga Kor Ming, meanwhile, will contest against Gerakan president Mah Siew Keong in Teluk Intan. - FMT