Kj Disputes Zahid S Claims On Sungai Buloh Seat

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Khairy Jamaluddin was a three-term Rembau MP. (Bernama pic)PETALING JAYA: Former Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin has disputed Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s claim that he had asked to contest the Sungai Buloh seat in the general election, saying he was “left with no choice”.
Khairy said he had waited for a decision from the party’s top leadership as to where he would stand but did not hear from them, so he decided to take matters into his own hands.
“I was left out in the cold. I knew I had to get out of Rembau, so at that time I had no other choice but to do something on my own,” he told a press conference.
“So, I took the initiative to meet (Selangor Barisan Nasional chief) Noh Omar and (MIC president) SA Vigneswaran, and when there were very few seats available, only two or three left, I chose Sungai Buloh.
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“So to say I chose it from the start… No,” he told a press conference today.
He said Noh had advised him to contest in Selangor if there were no other seats left.
Khairy added that he had gone to see Vigneswaran as Sungai Buloh was previously contested by MIC in the past general elections.
Earlier, a Berita Harian report quoted Zahid as saying that no one had forced Khairy to contest the parliamentary seat which has been held by PKR since 2008, when it was known as Subang.
“He asked for it. He asked for the seat to be given to him. That’s why I endorsed him in Sungai Buloh,” said the Umno president.
Khairy, who had been the Rembau MP for three terms since 2008, said in September that he was asked not to defend the seat to make way for Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan, who wanted a role in federal-level politics.
Khairy was subsequently linked to the Port Dickson, Seremban, Tampin, and Kuala Pilah seats in Negeri Sembilan and Alor Setar in Kedah.
He had described the move to Sungai Buloh as the toughest fight in his political career.
Khairy will be going up against Pakatan Harapan’s R Ramanan, Perikatan Nasional’s Ghazali Hamin, Pejuang’s Akmal Yusoff, Parti Rakyat Malaysia’s Ahmad Jufliz Faiza and two independent candidates for the seat. - FMT

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