KLUANG: Umno members should give their fullest support and not sabotage their candidate for the Mahkota by-election, says Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The party president and Barisan Nasional chairman said he hopes everything will run smoothly following the announcement of its candidate.
It was earlier reported that Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi had announced that Kluang Umno Youth chief Syed Hussien Syed Abdullah is set to be the coalition's candidate for the by-election.
"I hope that the candidate will take the next seven days (before nomination day) to speak with the election machinery and supporters.
"We do not want any issues to come up after the announcement of the candidate," he said.
Ahmad Zahid said a total of 17 names were brought forward as potential candidates for the Mahkota by-election.
"We know that this was a Wanita (Umno) seat and certainly, they wanted a candidate coming from the wing.
"At the same time, Umno Youth also wanted to have a candidate from its wing following their recent victory in Nenggiri," he said in his speech during the launch of the coalition's election machinery and announcement of candidate here.
He said that he had met with Onn Hafiz and others to decide on the candidate for the seat.
Ahmad Zahid, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, added that Barisan's success in winning the Nenggiri by-election recently has given a new hope to the coalition.
"We have proven that although Nenggiri is in a state that is not under us and we had previously lost the seat, we were still able to successfully win the election.
"Our victory in Nenggiri has given a new hope to the party," he said, adding that commitment from Kluang Umno, particularly its division chief Datuk Md Jais Sarday, would also increase the party's chances.
