KUALA TERENGGANU, Aug 9 (Bernama) -- Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad believes the Barisan Nasional (BN) has no 'special' candidate capabale of facing Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in the by-election for the Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat on Aug 26.According to the former prime minister, Anwar, who is the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) advisor, would win the by-election as the constituency was his stronghold while the BN had also lost its credibility after having failed to wrest the seat in the past several elections.
"At the moment, I don't see any (candidates), certainly from the BN. Anwar is going to win. (But) what will be interesting is the margin. Whether it is bigger or less (votes) than what he (Anwar) obtained previously," he said when asked on his opinion on the candidate capable of challenging Anwar in the by-election.
Dr Mahathir said this to reporters after delivering his lecture at a forum entitled "The Challenges Facing the Malays: Empowering the Malays" organised by the Terengganu Malay Grassroots Action Front, at the Terengganu Equestrian Resort, here Saturday.
Commenting further, he said if Anwar obtained a bigger majority in the by-election compared to the previous elections, it did not mean that the former deputy prime minister was becoming more popular and getting the people's support.
On the contrary, the former prime minister said the situation showed that the BN, particularly Umno, was increasingly being rejected by the people.
"(However), if the majority obtained by Anwar had declined...Umno can make headway (to regain the people's support)," he said.
When asked about the views of certain quarters that he should stand as an Independent candidate in the by-election, Dr Mahathir said: "No way, I have resigned in 2003 and I have said that I'm not coming back. But I have the right as a citizen to make comments on my country."
He said if an Independent candidate were to contest in the by-election, it would divide the votes of the BN and PKR candidates.
"It depends on who is (the Independent candidate) standing. If he is from a PAS splinter, the possibility is that it will reduce Anwar's votes...if the candidate is a former Umno member, it will give Anwar a bigger majority. But there is no possibility of the Independent candidate winning," he said.
In another development, Dr Mahathir believed Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi would remain as Umno president although Gua Musang Umno head Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah had offered to contest the Umno presidency in the party elections in December.
"Ku Li (Tengku Razaleigh) should gauge the members' support. I find that only the lower levels are supporting him. (On the other hand) Pak Lah (Abdullah) gets the support of the Umno divisional heads to the extent that they cannot open their mouth at all.
"Those (division heads) who had earlier challenged Datuk Seri Abdullah, are now quiet...I think it's difficult (for Tengku Razaleigh to win). (However) in the party Pak Lah will win, but in the general election, he will lose," he added.
tunku : i guess this by election will be the benchmark for umno particularly. anwar will win this by election, no doubt . if anwar get more votes, it will means that people are fed up with umno but if anwar get less votes then there's hope for umno. its not about anwar here, its about umno and its acceptance. if anwar wins that does not means that he is very popular. as for umno election in december, do not hope to see any contest for no 1 and no 2 post. it will never happen.umno has accepted the transition culture.
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7 comments:
don't be surprise more people will quit umno after december 2008.
under pak lah this is what you can expect. umno has no credible candidate that can take on anwar. i think they better give ex pkr man , ezam to challenge anwar.at least he can give some votes for umno from his friends in permatang pauh.
Nampaknya DSAI masih berminat dengan UMNO!lepas menang kat P44,DSAI masuk UMNO balik camner nyer?habislah peluang TPM sekarang dan adik rasa orang yang paling tersenyum riang adalah KJ!maklumlah teori KJ bakal PM sebelum umur 40 tahun akan tercapai!
dari : http://www.depa-kata.blogspot.com/
jaro, i do not understand ur argument. Does it mean if its someone else as PM up there, there WOULD be a better candidate for permatang pauh? You thinking rationally or just let ur hands do the typing? What makes u think pak lah has even the slightest stint in his head to fight anwar kau kau? He has no grudges against anwar, everyone know that? I'm not surprised if anwar was shown the red carpet by him and anwar would happily accept too.
sandyow,
yes, the 12th general election result was based on pka lah's performance. hope you are not living in the other world. go to the ground, and see how people hates dollah badawi. if he is replacxed i am sure and confident umno will be in better condition than now.
i hope you use your brain and eyes , look around and for me definitely i'm not using my hand to type but my fingers.:)
BN may not appear to have a special candidate to face ANWAR in permatang pauh, but the fact that some protesters urged for local candidates while some wants a special, famous and capable contestant to face ANWAR. If UMNO have the special candidate, they wouldn't reveal it out yet to prevent speculations and critics to merge before the election begins.
Memang peluang Anwar untuk menang kat sana besar. Tu sebab last2 dia pergi sana jugak. Walaupun sebelum ni sibuk cakap macam2 nak bertanding sana sini.
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