Give homeboy a chance, PM tells voters
Permatang Pauh voters should give an opportunity to a local candidate who resides in the area in to represent them in Parliament, said Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Permatang Pauh voters should give an opportunity to a local candidate who resides in the area in to represent them in Parliament, said Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
He said the Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat had long been given to an outsider, "now it is time to give it to a local."
"It was previously given to (PKR president Dr) Wan Azizah (Wan Ismail), she no longer wants it, she gives it to her husband (Anwar Ibrahim). Now we have to take it back," he was quoted as saying by Bernama .
The premier told this to reporters when he visited the Barisan Nasional (BN) operations room at Permatang Ara last night.
He said if the voters chose an outsider, the representative would not be able to "understand what we want except for someone like (BN candidate) Arif Shah (Omar Shah) who always resides here."
Abdullah said he would give his support to Arif Shah, who is also the state assemblyperson for Seberang Jaya, in developing the Permatang Pauh parliamentary constituency as a progressive area.
The prime minister also advised the 58,459 voters in the parliamentary constituency to go out as early as possible to cast their ballots.
Abdullah also spent some time visiting the home of a local resident, Zaiton Awang, which has been turned as the Kepala Batas Umno base for the by-election.
The by-election for the Permatang Pauh parliamentary constituency on Aug 26 will see a three-cornered fight between Anwar, Arif Shah and Angkatan Keadilan Insan Malaysia candidate Hanafi Mamat.
Laws to protect country's symbols needed
In an unrelated development, Deputy Entrepreneur and Cooperative Development Minister Saifuddin Abdullah said Malaysia should have laws to protect the country's symbols to ensure that they are not toyed with.
"Prior to this, the Negaraku had been toyed with and now there are people suggesting that the Jalur Gemilang be flown upside down.
"We must take action to teach those intending to fool around with the country's symbols a lesson," he said, according to Bernama .
Saifuddin said although it was not the best solution, action must be taken against those who disrespected the country's symbols, like the flag and anthem.
On Aug 4, a blogger suggested in his blog that the people fly the national flag upside down to show that the country was in a state of "emergency".
This irked the prime minister, who described the blogger as ill-mannered . The police are reported to be investigating the blogger under the Sedition Act.
