From not keen to very, very keen
Umno Youth chief Khairy ‘not keen’ to contest in election
PETALING JAYA , April 4 : Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin has announced that he was not keen to contest in the 13th general election, Malaysian media reported.
He won the Rembau parliamentary seat in Negri Sembilan in the 2008 general election.
“I have informed (Prime Minister and ) BN chairman, Najib Tun Razak, of my preference not to contest in GE13. I have announced this previously.
“But I’m old-fashioned. I would abide by whatever decision the BN chairman makes. I would contest if I’m instructed to do so. If I’m told to back off, I will do so.
“What is of importance is my undivided commitment to ensure BN’s victory, regardless of whether I’m a candidate or not,” Khairy said via his Facebook fan page on Thursday, according to Free Malaysia Today website.
In 2008, Mr Khairy defeated Badrul Hisham Shaharin from Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) in a straight fight, polling 26,525 votes against Mr Badrul’s 20,779 votes.
In 2008, Rembau had 62,896 voters, of whom 69 per cent were Malays. There were 16 per cenr Indian and 15 per cent Chinese voters.
Khairy advised Umno Youth leaders not to be sour grapes if they are not chosen as candidates.
“Don’t sulk or oppose if you are not chosen as a candidate. We speak about unity and loyalty in the party. This is the time to prove it in practice and action,” said Khairy.
A year after becoming MP, the 37-year-old became Umno Youth chief.
He was, however, not offered a Cabinet position even though it had been an Umno tradition to allocate a ministerial post to the Umno Youth chief.
Commenting on this, Khairy said: “This was used by my political enemies to ridicule me. However, I have not known the meaning of sadness, disappointment or anger.
“For the past four years I have soldiered on and executed my duties to the best of my abilities in my capacity as Youth chief.
“To me, the position is not important. The intention to serve the people and be effective in bringing benefits to the people: that really matters,” he said.
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Khairy offers to be in new cabinet
The Umno Youth chief says he can represent youth and implement Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's transformation ideas
KUALA LUMPUR: “I’m offering myself to be given a role, any role that can help him (Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak) and I leave it to him to decide”.
That was the response from Umno Youth leader Khairy Jamaluddin when asked on a suggestion by certain quarters for him to be included in the new cabinet to represent the youths.
The Rembau Member of Parliament, who was met after an interview on Bernama TV’s talk show “Hello Malaysia” last night, said his presence in the Cabinet would not only be to represent the youths, but to form a strong team capable of implementing transformation.
“I hope the prime minister will choose a team which understands transformation and ready to implement it,” he added.
In the just concluded 13th general election, Khairy retained the parliamentary seat with an increased majority of 18,357 votes, compared to only 5,746 in the 12th general election.
He garnered 43,053 votes to defeat Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s (PKR) Radzali A. Ghani, who obtained 24,696 votes, and Independent candidate Abdul Aziz Hassan (325 votes).
- Bernama
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