KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 25 ― Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak has pleaded for Tan Sri Shahrir Abdul Samad to stay in politics today, following the latter’s refusal to defend his seat in the next polls.
Najib, who is also the prime minister, said Shahrir plays a special role, and the ruling party needs someone with principles like him to handle the Johor Baru constituency.
“The Shahrir factor cannot be denied as even when he stood as an independent candidate under a different symbol, he still won.
“We can only urge and plead with him [not to resign],” Najib was quoted saying by The Star Online at a delegates meeting in the Johor capital.
The Pekan MP also urged party members to continue their hard work in order to keep the southern state as a stronghold for ruling coalition Barisan Nasional.
Shahrir was reported last year saying he will not recontest his seat in the 14th general elections, and in May said he was adamant he would hand over the baton to a younger leader.
Shahrir was first elected as Johor Baru MP in the 1978 elections before resigning in 1988 and forced a by-election after he refused to join New Umno after the split in 1987. He won that by-election as an independent candidate with a 12,613-vote majority.
He did not contest the seat again until 2004 when he was re-elected. In the last 13th general elections, Shahrir defended the seat with a majority of 25,349 votes.
