By : JAHABAR SADIQ (TMI)
KUALA LUMPUR : New faces are
expected to dominate the candidate lists from both Barisan Nasional (BN) and
Pakatan Rakyat (PR) as both court the nearly three million new voters in the
coming elections slated as early as this September, sources say.
The Malaysian Insider
understands that BN is drawing professionals from a number of agencies,
including Putrajaya’s efficiency unit PEMANDU, in its quest to regain the
two-thirds parliamentary majority and states lost to PR in Election 2008. PR
component parties have received hundreds of resumes from those who think they
can do a better job as lawmakers.
“Datuk Seri Najib Razak
(picture) is going through the list a few times. Each seat has at least four
possible candidates and he wants the best, the winnable there,” a BN source
told The Malaysian Insider, using the prime minister’s term for those capable
of winning seats.
Najib, who chairs the
13-member ruling coalition, has told the component parties that seat allocation
will now be based on potentially-winning candidates rather than the previous
formula of sharing seats as the MCA, MIC and Gerakan did badly in Election
2008.
Among the changes are the BN
chairman personally selecting and recommending candidates for those parties
apart from his Umno, particularly younger people who can attract the youth
vote. The prime minister has launched several programmes, including tweetups
and last week’s 1 Malaysia for Youth (1M4U) in the capital city, to bring the
younger generation to his side.
“Najib is thorough. He is
already eyeing one candidate from PEMANDU, and we are not talking about Idris
Jala, to get more support,” another source said, referring to the efficiency
agency, Performance Management and Delivery Unit, headed by Minister in the
Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Idris Jala. Jala is a senator but is not
a member of any BN component party.
The Malaysian Insider
reported yesterday that the Najib administration was looking at a snap election
in September before Malaysia Day if it goes through with a plan to dissolve
Parliament next month.
Sources said Najib’s aides
and BN officials have briefed a number of people on the plan to hold elections
between Hari Raya Aidifitri, which falls on August 19, and the proposed Budget
Day of September 28. Malaysia Day is on September 16.
But the prime minister, who
is seeking his first personal mandate, had said on Saturday that BN had yet to
finalise its candidates for the upcoming general election.
“The list will be finalised
when the time comes. Everything else is just speculation,” Najib had said when
asked about report saying he had rejected half of the names submitted for the
list.
Umno information chief Datuk
Ahmad Maslan said yesterday the party has activated its 6,667 district polling
centres across the country to strengthen its election machinery as elections
are near.
PR parties have also
predicted possible polls after the Aidilfitri festivities, with PAS president
Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang saying BN was taking advantage of the possibility
that voters would not return to their hometowns to cast their ballots so soon
after the festive celebrations.
But PR sources said each
party — PKR, PAS and the DAP — has already submitted preliminary lists to their
leaders for the final selection.
“All party leaders have
their lists and are going through them now. There are just a few seats that
need to be swapped and that will be done when Parliament is dissolved,” a
source told The Malaysian Insider.
A DAP source confirmed that
there are a few new faces would be contesting in the general election although
some veterans have indicated they want to stay on. “It is only natural because
the 2008 victory has given confidence to many,” he added.
The Malaysian Insider learnt
that PR’s federal seat allocation is 66 for PAS, 47 for the DAP and the rest
for PKR including a few seats to be given to partners in Sabah and Sarawak. “We
have to work with local parties in Borneo, so there will be some seats for them,”
a PKR source said.
Nearly 13 million voters are
eligible to cast their ballots if a general election is called involving all
222 federal seats and 505 seats in 12 states. However, the four PR-ruled states
have yet to say if they will hold elections the same day as the general
election as their mandates only expire next April. Sarawak has already had its
state election last year.
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