LIPIS: Barisan Nasional (BN) has yet to decide its candidate for the upcoming Cameron Highlands parliamentary by-election on Jan 26.
State BN chairman Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail said although the seat was allocated for MIC, BN had not decided which component party will contest there.
“Although it is MIC’s seat BN has not made a final decision and discussions are still being carried out. We are discussing if we should maintain the MIC quota.
“However, I have to emphasise that Cameron Highlands’s is MIC’s traditional seat and the party won during the 14the General Election (GE14). The person picked to contest there has to be a winnable candidate,” he told reporters after opening the Agriculture, Agro-Based Industry and Biotechnology committee open day at the Rock Melon farm in Kuala Medang here today.
Also present was Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority’s (Fama) deputy director-general (operations), Datuk Nazipah Jamaludin, State Agriculture, Agro-Based Industry and Biotechnology Committee Chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Soffi Abd Razak and State Agriculture chairman Datuk Zahimi Hassan.
Meanwhile, Wan Rosdy, who is also the Menteri Besar and Jelai assemblyman, said BN was making all the necessary preparations and ensuring everything was on track so that Cameron Highlands remains under BN.
The by-election was called following a decision by the Election Court to nullify Datuk C. Sivarraajh’s win in GE14.
The court had ruled that during the election, there were elements of bribery involved in a bid to sway voters in the area.
In GE14, Sivarraajh won the seat with a slim 597-vote majority by seeing off four other challengers.
On Dec 28, Election Commission(EC) chairman Azhar Azizan Harun said Sivarraajh will be barred from defending the seat.
On a separate matter, Wan Rosdy said Lipis was set to become a major hub to produce rock melons in Pahang after farmers in the district managed to harvest some 60 metric tonnes of the fruits this harvest.