Khir Toyo eyes comeback

PETALING JAYA: Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo (pic) is slated to make a political comeback and has been working the ground over the past four years.

This came following revelations that the former Selangor mentri besar was among 40 names submitted as potential Umno candidates to contest the Sungai Besar parliamentary seat in the 15th General Election (GE15).

Other names given to the Umno top leadership for consideration were Sungai Besar Umno division chief Datuk Seri Jamal Yunos and former Sungai Panjang assemblyman Datuk Dr Budiman Mohd Zohdi.

“I would like to say thank you very much to Datuk Seri Jamal and the Sungai Besar Umno division for nominating me among the 40 names to the Umno central committee.

“I started working the ground since four years back,” said Dr Mohamad Khir, who was Sungai Panjang assemblyman for three terms at one stage.

He added that he was confident Umno could retake Sungai Besar, currently held by Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s Datuk Muslimin Yahaya.

“Looking at the constituency study done by myself and a group of people, it should be okay-lah,” Dr Mohamad Khir said.

He added that the Umno central committee led by party deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan would decide on the best candidate to contest Sungai Besar.

“For me, the candidate is not important. What’s important is that we must work together to regain the parliamentary seat for Umno,” he said.

Yesterday, Jamal, the Selangor Barisan Nasional communications chief, said he is open to anyone wanting to contest the seat in GE15.

“They just need to be mentally and physically fit, as well as financially stable.

“This includes Dr Mohamad Khir. Everyone is eligible,” he added.

In 2015, Dr Mohamad Khir was found guilty of using his position to obtain two plots of land and a bungalow unit in Shah Alam and sentenced to 12 months’ jail.

After serving six months of his sentence, he was released after completing two months of parole.