Tuesday 29 September 2009

Bagan Pinang: Isa Samad is Barisan's choice

The Barisan Nasional will field Tan Sri Mohd Isa Samad as its candidate in the Oct 11 Bagan Pinang by-election in Negeri Sembilan.

Umno deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, in announcing the decision, said the former Negri Sembilan Menteri Besar was chosen because this is what the people of Bagan Pinang wanted.

Muhyiddin said Isa’s selection as the candidate was made after much thought and scrutiny, with feedback from not only among senior Barisan leaders but also the grassroot supporters in Bagan Pinang.

He said the party wanted a dedicated leader and candidate who would be able to bring change to the constituency.

According to Muhyiddin, Isa,who was the Negri Sembilan mentri besar for 22 years, has contributed greatly to the local community and never stopped serving it despite challenges to him over the years.

Muhyiddin, who is also the Barisan election director, made the announcement at a Hari Raya Aidilfitri get-together in Batu 6, Teluk Kemang, Negri Sembilan.

The star has the report here .

When the Teluk Kemang Umno Youth nominated Isa to contest Bagan Pinang, several quarters expressed strong vews against his candidancy because he is considered a tainted leader.

Among them who had objected to the possibility of fielding Isa was former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Isa was found guilty of money politics by the Umno disciplinary board in 2005 - he was then the Federal Territories Minister - and suspended from the party for six years . However, his suspension was reduced to three years following an appeal.

The contest for the Bagan Pinang state seat was called following the death of Umno incumbent Azman Mohd Noor.

In the general election in March 2008, Azman defeated PAS' Ramli Ismail with a majority of 2,333 votes. He polled 6,430 votes against Ramli's 4,097.

Malay majority seat Bagan Pinang is part of the Teluk Kemang parliamentary seat in Port Dickson with voters from the community making up 66 per cent of the electorate.

Of the four other state seats in Teluk Kemang, three - Port Dickson, Chuah and Lukut - are under the opposition while BN holds Linggi.

PAS is expected to announce its candidate later tonight.

4 comments:

Lee said...

Isa Samad is UMNO's leader in NS and is as credible as any other UMNO leader.He was plain unlucky to be found guilty of "money politics".
Everyone in UMNO also practise money politics.In fact money politics is practised by numerous political parties in the world, including those in the west, especially in the USA.UMNO will win this by elections mainly because of the large number of postal voters,irregardless of who the candidate is!
The so-called postal voters can actually be ordinary voters....then the situation will be different, perhaps 50-50!

Anonymous said...

People understand Mahatir's comment, as Mahatir understands people frustration. Isa will lose in this election.

Anonymous said...

Belum pun pilihanraya kecil Bagan Pinang bermula, Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR) petang tadi baru menerima satu lagi Surat Perletakan Jawatan dari Adun Johol, Barisan Nasional kerana ADUNnya sedang bersabung nyawa; akibat penyakit kanser tulang tahapan ketiga/genting.

Ini menandakan Negeri Sembilan bakal menempuhi satu lagi pilihanraya kecil; selepas selesainya pilihanraya kecil Bagan Pinang kelak. SPR sedaya upaya cuba menyelamatkan BN dengan menolak surat perletakan jawatan itu.

Dalam perkembangan berkaitan, dua ADUN BN yang lain sedang berdepan dengan pertuduhan rasuah; yang membolehkan kedua-dua mereka hilang kedudukan sebagai ADUN.

Anonymous said...

I think BN's strategy in choosing TS Isa is because he still wields a considerable influence over the Umno grassroots.

BN MUSt win this by-election - by hook or by crook - after having lost all but one (Batang Ai in Sarawak).

Doesnt matter if he is tainted so long if he could deliver a win a BN/Umno.

After all, Bagan Pinang is said to be an Umno stronghold.