==> Pls visit new site at http://malaysia-today.net/ <==

Party retains its key officials who are powerful grassroots leaders

By Carolyn Hong, Malaysia Bureau Chief, THE STRAITS TIMES

UMNO is fielding yet more veterans with the return of Tourism Minister Tengku Adnan Mansor and International Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah Aziz, despite earlier speculation about their fate.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Aziz is also back on the list, along with Perlis Menteri Besar Shahidan Kassim.

Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Rais Yatim is also contesting.

With most of Barisan Nasional's candidates now unveiled, it is clear that there will be no more shocks in the list. No major leaders have been dropped, and it is an indication that party interests have triumphed.

These old guard are powerful grassroots politicians in their own right. They wield influence over party workers who can easily do damage by simply not turning up to campaign.

They also control large blocks of party members who can influence party elections. Umno's internal polls will be held later this year.

Earlier, there was much speculation over the fate of these leaders, in particular, that of Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan who will stand in Putrajaya where he is the incumbent.

His name had recently been dragged into a judge-fixing scandal where he was accused of conspiring with a lawyer to fix judicial appointments. He has denied involvement.

'We field candidates who we feel can win,' Federal Territory Umno chief Zulhasnan Rafique said yesterday, when asked about Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan.

Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi announced that he will stand in Kepala Batas in Penang, a seat he has held since 1978.

He also announced that Second Finance Minister Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop, 59, will stand in a parliamentary seat in Penang, his first contest. He is currently an appointed Senator to the upper house of Parliament, enabling him to hold a Cabinet post.

Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Jalil has been retained to contest the Lembah Pantai seat in Kuala Lumpur.

She will face newcomer Nurul Izzah Anwar, the daughter of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

The face-off will be one of the more interesting contests because of the personalities involved although Datuk Seri Shahrizat may be too formidable an opponent for Ms Nurul Izzah.

Other candidates unveiled by Datuk Seri Anwar's Parti Keadilan Rakyat yesterday included the odd choice of Mr Loh Gwo Burne who shot to fame for being the man who secretly filmed lawyer V.K. Lingam talking about how he fixed judicial appointments.

Mr Loh, 34, is fielded in the Kelana Jaya constituency where he will face the Malaysian Chinese Association heavyweight Lee Hwa Beng.

Datuk Seri Anwar's wife Wan Azizah Ismail is confirmed to be defending her Permatang Pauh seat in Penang.

The former deputy premier cannot run in this election as his ban from electoral politics, arising from his conviction for corruption, expires only in April. But he has already indicated that one of his party's candidates will step down to force a by-election in which he will contest after the ban is lifted.

'We are still on track to field more than 100 candidates (for 222 parliamentary seats). As of today, we have reached our target of having a one-to-one fight with BN,' said the party's vice-president Azmin Ali.

Comments (4)