WASHINGTON, April 16 (Bernama) -- The MIC, which was again given the mandate to contest the Hulu Selangor parliamentary seat, must deliver the seat for Barisan Nasional (BN), Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said.
Najib, who is also the BN chairman, said it was important for the MIC to prove itself as a national party serving not only the Indians but all communities.
"I decided on (P.) Kamalanathan (as the BN candidate) to fulfil the demand of the local voters. This means that the people's views on a suitable candidate to be MP (is given priority).
"This is the first consideration because Hulu Selangor is a BN constituency. We temporarily loaned it to PKR (Parti Keadilan Rakyat). The time has come to end the loan and return it to the BN.
"So, we must field a winnable candidate," he told Malaysian journalists here Thursday before continuing his visit to New York.
BN deputy chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on thursday announced MIC information chief MIC P.Kamalanathan, 44, as the BN candidate for the Hulu Selangor by-election on April 25. Nominations will be held Saturday.
Najib said that although MIC deputy president Datuk G.Palanivel was not selected again as a candidate, he acknowledged Palanivel's contributions as MP and deputy minister.
Palanivel was the Hulu Selangor MP for four terms starting 1990 before he was defeated by Datuk Dr Zainal Abidin Ahmad of PKR in the 2008 general election. Dr Zainal Abidin died of brain cancer on March 25.
On the selection of former minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Zaid Ibrahim as the PKR candidate, Najib said: "Everyone knows Zaid. There's no need for me to comment."
On his visit here, he described it as "most productive" because Washington's sentiment towards Malaysia had changed.
He said he noticed the change in sentiment not only in US President Barack Obama and his administration but also on Capitol Hill among the senators and Congress members and among the US businessmen.
On Monday Najib had a bilateral meeting with President Obama while attending the Nuclear Security Summit here.
No comments:
Post a Comment