New Straits Times

ZAHID: NO MAJOR ISSUES FOR BN

Coalition deputy chairman says it is ready for general election

- JALAL ALI ABDUL RAHIM AND SHAMSUL KAMAL AMARUDIN cnews@nstp.com.my (praise be to God), Perak is not a problemati­c

BARISAN Nasional is not facing any major issue, including its candidate list and seat allocation for the 14th General Election (GE14).

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said GE14 would have fewer issues, compared with previous polls.

The BN deputy chairman said this was based on its meet-thegrassro­ots programmes and the observatio­n from all states, which he had visited in the run-up to GE14.

“I have visited every state. Even though there are slight issues, they are small and this is something that we face during election (season).

“I see that these titik bengik (small issues) are not big as to what we had faced during previous general elections. This shows that we are ready, not only in terms of election machinery, but also in our minds. We should accept BN candidates that will represent the coalition either at the state, parliament­ary or stateseat level,” he said.

Zahid, who was Bagan Datuk member of parliament, said this after launching the state-level 46th Anniversar­y of the People’s Volunteer Corps (Rela) here yesterday.

Present were Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir, Rela director-general Zulkifli Abidin and InspectorG­eneral of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun.

Zahid dismissed an English daily report, which claimed that BN Perak was facing a big issue when it came to announcing its candidates.

“During an observatio­n report that I read at the BN headquarte­rs, I find that Perak is the state with fewer problems in announcing its candidates.

“They can’t announce their candidates as we are waiting for a signal from the BN headquarte­rs and that it needs to get through BN chairman Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

“It (the candidate list) needs to be finalised before we can hand it over to Perak BN chairman Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir to make the announceme­nt,” he added.

Zambry said Perak BN had a discussion with state leaders, including Zahid.

“Alhamdulil­lah state and the small issues raised have been solved.

“Everything is fine in the state,” he added.

Zahid, when asked on the protest by the Wangsa Maju Umno division and its members over the Wangsa Maju parliament­ary seat, said : “We know that during GE13, the seat was given to Umno, and MCA had requested the seat be given back to it. I have given them advice during a meeting with the group that I met yesterday (Friday) that we should respect any decision made by the BN chairman.”

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