KJ: I negotiated for Sg Buloh as leadership left me in the dark

GE15 | BN’s Sungai Buloh candidate Khairy Jamaluddin today said he had little choice but to ask to contest there because his party’s leadership gave no indication of where he might be fielded.

Knowing that he had to vacate Rembau to make way for former Negeri Sembilan menteri besar Mohamad Hasan, he said he had to take the initiative to find a spot for himself after Umno’s leadership left him in the dark.

Khairy (above) explained this while on the campaign trail today after BN chairperson Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said he did not dump the outgoing health minister in Sungai Buloh, a Pakatan Harapan stronghold, but the latter chose to contest there.

“The fact is, I had no choice. The leadership gave no indication of which area I would be fielded in and I was left just like that. I knew I had to leave Rembau.

“I had to do something for myself so I took the initiative to meet with (Selangor BN chief) Noh Omar and Vicky (MIC president Vigneswaran).

“When there were not many seats available, only two or three, I said, ‘Ok, I choose Sungai Buloh’,” he said, adding that he had waited for a signal from the leadership before making a move.

In fact, he said, the idea to contest in Selangor was mooted by Noh, who was ironically dropped from contesting the seat of Tanjong Karang for the seventh time.

“Noh called me and said, ‘Brother, if there are no more spots for you, why don’t you come to Selangor?” he shared.

“We spoke to the MIC president and asked to swap for Sungai Buloh, which was earlier contested by MIC,” he said.

Nonetheless, he said does not want to quarrel publicly with the party president and is focused on bringing a victory to BN in the constituency, where the coalition lost in all polling districts in the last general election.

Schisms within Umno had left many party veterans and cabinet ministers sidelined in his general election, with Khairy’s move to Sungai Buloh viewed by political commentators as an indication of Zahid’s displeasure with him.

‘Muhyiddin knows my work quality’

He also thanked Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairperson Muhyiddin Yassin, who said Khairy would make a good prime minister but he was not in the “right party”.

“I thank Muhyiddin for his good comments about the quality of my work and he knows I worked hard after he appointed me as coordinator for the Covid-19 immunisation programme,” said the candidate who laughed when asked the question.

“He knows what I can do but about the party, we have to agree to disagree,” he said.

Earlier, he told Sungai Buloh voters they should vote for him because he intends to stay in politics for the long run to become Umno president and eventually prime minister.

This is after PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli noted that voting for Khairy is a waste because he would likely be sidelined in his party.

Khairy spoke to reporters today after visiting SME Aerospace and plant nurseries, which Sungai Buloh is famed for.

“Today is about the economy of Sungai Buloh, to see how I can play a role as MP to promote better policies attract better investment and work together with the state government and local government to give good infrastructure in Sungai Buloh,” he said. 

Khairy is in a seven-way tussle with Pakatan Harapan’s R Ramanan, Parti Rakyat Malaysia’s Ahmad Jufliz Faiza, Pejuang’s Mohd Akmal Mohd Yusof, PAS’ Mohd Ghazali Md Hamin, and two independent candidates, Sifu Linda and Syed Razak Alsagoff.

Sungai Buloh has been held by PKR’s R Sivarasa since 2008, but he was replaced with Ramanan as the Harapan candidate due to health issues.

In 2018, Sivarasa won with a majority of 26,634 votes.

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