TANJUNG MALIM, Aug 16 — Rembau Member of Parliament Khairy Jamaluddin is ready to have a “brotherly” discussion with Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, who recently announced that he will be contesting the parliamentary seat in the 15th General Election (GE15).
“This matter can be discussed because Mohamad and I are from the same division, where he is the Rembau Umno Division head and I am the deputy.
“So, let’s have a ‘brotherly’ discussion before making a decision,” he said when met by reporters during lunch at the district polling centre (PDM) in Felda Besout 2 here today.
Also present was Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate for the Slim state by-election, Mohd Zaidi Aziz.
Khairy was commenting on a statement by Mohamad, who announced that he would be contesting the Rembau parliamentary seat in GE15 when officiating the Sri Kota Umno branch meeting on August 8.
Meanwhile, Khairy, who is also the Science, Technology and Innovation Minister, said the unpleasant incident which happened to Bersatu Armada (Youth) members at the launch of BN Youth machinery for the Slim state by-election yesterday did not represent the party’s stance.
The former Umno Youth leader said the action of some members should not be used to paint a picture of the relationship between the various parties in the Perikatan Nasional government.
“Perhaps there was an element of them wanting to create controversy or they just couldn’t see the bigger objective, which is unity, especially among Muslims and Malays through Muafakat Nasional and Perikatan Nasional,” he said.
Yesterday, local media reported that each time Bersatu Armada’s name was mentioned by BN leaders while speaking at the launch, they were ‘booed’ by the participants.
Commenting on the Slim state by-election, Khairy said BN candidate Mohd Zaidi was capable of providing the best service to voters in the area as he had vast experience in various activities, especially with regard to youths.
“I find him to be very hard-working and he has a lot of ideas to develop the younger generation in the country,” he said. — Bernama
