SEBERANG PERAI, Nov 1 — The only Barisan Nasional (BN) candidates to contest in Penang’s 13 parliamentary seats this November 19 will be local leaders, its state chief Datuk Musa Sheikh Fadzir said today.
He said the BN national leadership had picked names from the list of candidates submitted by Penang divisions and asserted that there would be no “outsiders”.
“These are community leaders who have worked hard serving their communities so they will be given the chance to contest in the election,” he said in a press conference after launching the Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd weekly and monthly travel pass at the Bukit Mertajam railway station here.
He said Umno, in particular, had chosen candidates who have been serving their communities for a long time.
“We don’t bring in outsiders and there is no hopping from other constituencies outside Penang to Penang,” he said.
He said there will be candidates whose performance was good at the state level and so have been promoted to contest in parliamentary seats.
“In Penang, till today, everyone is very cool. They will accept all decisions made by the party leadership on the choice of candidates,” he said.
He stressed that there was no infighting or squabbling over seats as those selected are from the lists submitted by divisions here in Penang.
BN chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is expected to announce the election candidates in Kuala Lumpur tonight.
Musa said he will be there to receive the candidates list for Penang tonight.
“We will announce the Penang BN candidates’ names this Thursday,” he said.
When asked if there will be new faces among the candidates, he said there will be some new faces including female candidates.
“We have more new faces for the state elections, about 60 to 70 per cent, but since it’s not being held concurrently, we will wait for the state polls,” he said.
Musa said Penang BN is expected to give its political opponents a tough fight.
“Our candidates are hardworking people who have been on the ground so we will give them a big slap,” he said.
He hoped that they will be able to win more than the two seats they are defending.
BN won the Kepala Batas and Tasek Gelugor seats in 2018.
Kepala Batas is held by Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican while Tasek Gelugor by Datuk Shabudin Yahaya.
Shahudin has since switched to Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia.
