KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 27 — Barisan Nasional (BN) should have proposed a candidate for the Port Dickson by-election, ex-Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin said today.
The Rembau MP said his personal stance is that BN should have taken part in the by-election, whether the seat was winnable or not.
The Port Dickson seat in Negri Sembilan was created this year, replacing the Telok Kemang federal constituency, following the 2018 redelineation process.
The Teluk Kemang constituency was held by PKR from 2008 to 2018.
“I made my personal position very clear that we should contest even though it was not a winnable seat for BN based on the last few elections.
“But as an Opposition, you must be in the game. Not contesting was not the right decision to make,” he told radio channel BFM 89.9 on its Breakfast Grille show, today.
On Monday, Umno president Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi had announced that the Opposition coalition will not be taking part in the Port Dickson by-election and will be boycotting it as the pact felt that it is a waste of money.
While many had viewed the by-election as unnecessary and a “political coronation”, Khairy said that the deal had been struck between Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and PKR’s Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim that the latter will be the eight prime minister.
“I am sympathetic of that view, but to be fair to Anwar, he has been quite clear that he wants to come back to the government. There was a deal… and that has to eventually happen.
“We have to accept that is going to happen anyway and move on,” he said.
The Port Dickson by-election on October 13 was called after Datuk Danyal Balagopal Abdullah resigned as assemblyman on September 12 to give way to Anwar to contest the seat and return to Parliament.
The by-election will be the fourth held since the 14th general election, after Sungai Kandis and the recently concluded Balakong and Seri Setia polls on September 8.
