RAMLI IS BN’S BEST BET, SAYS MOHAMAD
Coalition has made paradigm shift by fielding ex-cop, says its acting chief
BARISAN Nasional (BN) is fielding Ramli Mohd Nor, a retired senior police officer from the local Orang Asli community, as its candidate for the Cameron Highlands parliamentary by-election on Jan 26.
BN acting chairman Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said Ramli, 60, was BN’s best bet to garner support there.
He said the coalition had made a paradigm shift by fielding a truly BN candidate, who is not from its component party.
“We are confident that he can secure the support of the voters. We are also thankful to the MIC for loaning the Cameron Highlands seat to
BN,” he said.
Present at the announcement were MIC president Tan Sri S. Vigneswaran, Pahang Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail and BN secretary-general Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz.
Mohamad said BN, through a mutual understanding, would borrow the seat from MIC and place a winnable candidate who is well-accepted by the people of Cameron Highlands. “We want to win this by-election and we are 85 per cent confident of winning. This victory will ensure BN rises again,” Mohamad said.
On the involvement of Pas, he said the Islamic party would not field any candidate but help campaign for BN.
Commenting on MIC’s decision, Vigneswaran said the party wanted to ensure a BN victory. He said a factor that led to the move was the court decision barring Sivarraajh from contesting the by-election.
“Our confidence dropped 50 per cent after the verdict.”
Another factor, he said, was the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple riots in Subang Jaya on Nov 27, which led to the death of firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim.
He said the incident might affect Malay voters’ support.
“The truth is, we need to put a candidate who can win. So, this is a good and strategic decision.”