PUTRAJAYA, April 19 — Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Datuk Hasan Arifin’s age will not be a factor stopping him from winning the Rompin by-election with a big majority of votes.
UMNO vice-president Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said the experience, leadership and acceptance of the former Pahang deputy mentri besar are enough to deflect criticism over his choice as a candidate.
“In addition to the age factor what else can the Opposition say. We picked a seasoned candidate who is well received by the people of Rompin. The decision has been made and our job is to ensure that Datuk Hasan wins with a bigger majority,” he said at the Transformation Open Day of the National Service Training Programmes (PLKN) here, today.
Soon after Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin named Hasan, 62, as the BN candidate for the Rompin by-election yesterday, the Opposition criticised the choice claiming it violated Umno’s plan to rejuvenate the party.
Hishammuddin, who is also Defence Minister, said the most important thing for Umno and BN is to field the most popular candidate for the Rompin parliamentary by-election.
“As to the question whether Datuk Hasan is well received or not by the voters in Rompin, let us wait until the voting is completed on May 5,” he added.
The Rompin by-election is being held following the death of Tan Sri Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis on April 4 in a helicopter crash in Semenyih, Selangor.
During the 2013 general election, Jamaluddin retained the Rompin seat by beating Nuridah Mohd Salleh of PAS with a majority of 15,114 votes. — Bernama
