By Adib Zalkapli
KUALA LUMPUR, April 7 — Umno’s Hulu Selangor division, which has been lobbying for a Malay candidate for the constituency’s by-election, had backed down from its demand just hours before Datuk Seri Najib Razak made public his endorsement for MIC to represent Barisan Nasional (BN).
The decision to support the prime minister’s choice to contest the Hulu Selangor seat was made at the division’s committee meeting last night.
“The memorandum was only meant to make our views known, now that the party has made the decision, we all have to accept,” said Hulu Selangor Umno vice-chief Datuk Adnan Buyong, referring to the memorandum he sent to Najib who is also the state Umno chief.
The memorandum was signed by more than 50 village heads in Hulu Selangor, some of whom are also Umno branch chiefs.
“This is also consistent with the decision at our division’s meeting last night to support whoever is chosen by the president,” Adnan told The Malaysian Insider.
“We will not boycott the election,” said Adnan when asked if Umno grassroots would still serve the election machinery effectively.
Earlier, Najib ended Umno’s lobbying for the Hulu Selangor seat by declaring that an MIC candidate will contest the April 25 parliamentary by-election, honouring the coalition’s seat allocation arrangement.
He made the announcement when closing the Selangor BN convention which was held to draw up plans for BN to take over the state in the next general election.
“It was very courageous of him to make the announcement before the group of people that have been demanding the seat to be returned to Umno,” said Hulu Selangor Umno committee member Datuk Zainal Abidin Sakom.
“I would like to congratulate him for making the tough decision to choose to honour the agreement and not bow to the demands; the agreement was made by our predecessors, but as the leader he chose to honour it,” Zainal told The Malaysian Insider.
He hoped that all BN parties will stop discussing the possible candidate and concentrate on winning the election for the prime minister.
“I would like to tell the people of Hulu Selangor, the decision has been made, now it is our job to ensure victory for the PM’s choice of candidate, the candidate is just a symbol, we need to ensure BN’s victory, we have agreed on this last night,” said Zainal referring to the Umno division’s meeting.
“Now to all leaders from MIC, MCA and PPP, please stop talking about who will be the candidate, we have to make sure Barisan wins,” said Zainal.
The MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu has nominated his deputy Datuk G. Palanivel to recontest the seat that he lost in Election 2008 by 198 votes.
Najib however declared that the final decision will be made by him as the national BN chairman.
The Hulu Selangor by-election was called following the death of PKR MP Datuk Dr Zainal Abidin Ahmad late last month. Nomination day is April 17 while polling is on April 25.
There are 64,500 voters in Hulu Selangor, with the Malays making up 52.7 per cent of the total while the Chinese constitute 26.3 per cent, Indians approximately 19 per cent and other races at 1.7 per cent.
STONE: Kahkahkah semua orang tahu, pembaca pun tahu dan aku pun agak-agak boleh tahu, nak pendek karier politik cuba la hangpa lawan tokey tengok apa akan jadi ... demi masa depan politik hangpa yang belum pasti ini, samada hangpa setuju atau tidak, mau tak mau terpaksa lah tunjukkan sokongan pada apa yang telah ditetapkan oleh ketua 1Malaysia hangpa tu. Nak mampuih kalau tak ikut cakap dia atau terus cuba untuk melawan apa yang telah diputuskannya. Suka atau tidak terpaksa lah terima, walau hati didalam bagaikan gunung berapi yang hampir memuntahkan laharnya ... akhirnya ... "ya kami sokong apa yang telah diputuskan oleh tok ketua dan akan memberi sokongan sepenuhnya ..." kah kah kah ... Kasihan korang, telah dipermainkan oleh tok ketua ...
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