KUALA KUBU BAHARU – Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan has described Perikatan Nasional (PN) as being unfair for fielding a Malay candidate in the Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election.
He said Malay elected representatives from PN were already holding the two neighbouring state seats – Hulu Bernam and Batang Kali.
Along with Kuala Kubu Baharu, the three state seats are under the Hulu Selangor parliamentary constituency, which is also held by PN.
“They (PN) are unfair as three of their (representatives) are Malay. Why did they not consider other races as the candidate for Kuala Kubu Baharu?”
“PN wants to sweep all four (seats with Malay representatives).
“In Islam, we do not even do that. At least, allocate the seat to one non-Malay,” he told reporters outside the Kuala Kubu Baharu nomination centre today.
Ahmad said it was “enough” that PN had three of its representatives in the Hulu Selangor area, and urged voters to give the unity government candidate, Pang Sock Tao from DAP, an opportunity as well.
PN is fielding Hulu Selangor Bersatu acting division chief, Khairul Azhari Saut, 54, as its candidate.
Meanwhile, PN chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the placement of a Malay candidate was “not a racial decision” but because “a large number of voters here want it”.
“Logically, the majority of voters here are Malay. We are confident that if 80% of Malay voters turn up to vote, we can win,” he told reporters at the grounds of the nomination centre here.
PN won the Hulu Selangor federal seat in the 2022 general election, and the Hulu Bernam and Batang Kali state seats in state elections in August last year.
Kuala Kubu Baharu, meanwhile, has been held by DAP-Pakatan Harapan (PH) since 2013, and before that it was an MCA stronghold.
The seat now has 50% Malay voters, Chinese 30%, Indian 18%, with Orang Asli the remainder.
In the state election held in August last year, Lee won the seat with a 4,119-vote majority, defeating three other candidates from PN, Parti Rakyat Malaysia (Chng Boon Lai 527 votes) and Muda.
Polling day is set for May 11, with early voting scheduled for May 7. – April 27, 2024