JOHOR BAHRU – The last-minute changes on the candidates of UMNO at the Johor State Assembly Seat would not give huge impact to the party, said Datuk Hasni Mohammad.
According to the Johor Barisan Nasional (BN) Chairman, the decision was made based on the high cooperative spirit among the BN component party members.
He also said, the similar action was also taken by the MCA and MIC, which also changed their candidates at the last minute.
“The last-minute changes were based on the spirit of BN, we see that MCA and MIC also changed their candidates at the last minute.
“Of course, UMNO needs to make adjustments after we have finalised the seat distribution among the component party members.
“However, the changes made did not mean that the candidates we announced earlier were unsuitable. We based our decision on the high representation of women and youth.
“The decision of choosing candidates also involved the total criteria such as academic qualifications, which is one of the important components,” he said during a news conference today when he asked about the effects on UMNO after changing the candidates for the Sungai Balang and Tanjung Surat State Assembly seat in less than 24 hours after the list of candidates was announced last Thursday.
The state assemblies are located in the Muar and Pengerang Parliament constituency.
When asked if there were rejections among the grassroots on the candidates among the veteran leaders, Hasni said that the issue did not emerge as the BN engine was not fully operational yet.
Based on the experience of BN, it would demand the party’s ending to work hard in stages throughout the campaign period of an election.
However, studies would be made in the field to get the feedback of the grassroots and the voters.
Meanwhile, among the surprises made by UMNO was the first appearance of UMNO Supreme Council Member, Datuk Mohd Puad Zarkashi who will be contesting for a state assembly seat during the Johor State Assembly on 12 March.
Mohd Puad, who is also the Batu Pahat UMNO Division Chief will be facing a four-corner-contest as he will be fighting for votes against the candidate from PKR, Khairuddin A Rahim who won the Senggarang State Assembly seat during the 14th General Election (GE14).
The two other contestants at the Rengit State Assembly Seat are Mohd Huzair Lajis from Perikatan Nasional (PN) and Nizam Bashir Abdul Kariem Bashir from Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang). – MalaysiaGazette
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