KUALA LUMPUR: The method of picking candidates for the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections should be used as templates to choose future Barisan National (BN) candidates.
UMNO supreme council member Datuk Seri Dr Shahidan Kassim said the method was a resounding success when BN won in the two by-elections and garnered bigger majorities.
“The process of selecting candidates for the Kuala Kangsar and Sungai Besar by-elections required very high evaluations because we wanted to pick the best candidates.
“It was clearly effective and should be used as a template for picking BN candidates in future,” he told Bernama. Shahidan, who is also Perlis UMNO Liaison Committee chairman, said the decision in picking candidates should be fully placed in the hands of UMNO president, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
“The president knows better who are qualified to become candidates for the party based on observations and the situation currently unfolding.
“We don’t want the situation in Perlis in the past repeating itself whereby the decision to pick the candidate was made at the lower level such as the divisions resulting in Perlis UMNO being victimised,” he said.
At the Kuala Kangsar by-election, BN candidate Datin Mastura Mohd Yazid garnered 12,653 votes to beat PAS candidate Dr Najihatussalehah Ahmad (5,684 votes), Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) candidate Prof Dr Ahmad Termizi Ramli (4,883 votes) and independent Izat Bukhary Ismail Bukhary, who only received 54 votes to lose his deposit.
At the Sungai Besar by-election, BN candidate Budiman Mohd Zohdi won 16,800 votes to beat Amanah candidate Amanah Azhar Abdul Shukur (7,609 votes) and PAS candidate Dr Abdul Rani Osman (6,902 votes). --BERNAMA