NOMINATION day for the Bukit Selambau by-election opened relatively calmly on 29 March 2009, a schoolday and work day here in Kedah. Journalists and the candidates’ supporters started trickling into the nomination centre, Sekolah Menengah Teknik Sungai Petani 1, from 7am. There had been speculation that things could get chaotic, considering the Election Commission (EC) […]
Archives for March 2009
Independents in Bkt Selambau reflect uncertainty
SUNGAI PETANI, 29 March 2009: The big number of independent candidates contesting in the Bukit Selambau by-election on 7 April is a manifestation of the uncertain political situation in Kedah, according to a political analyst. Dr Azeem Fazwan Ahmad Faruq, a political science lecturer at Universiti Sains Malaysia, said 13 independent candidates contesting against Barisan […]
Uphill task in Bkt Gantang, says PAS
TAIPING, 29 March 2009: PAS secretary-general Datuk Kamaruddin Jaafar said today the party would have an uphill task in retaining the Bukit Gantang parliamentary seat in the 7 April by-election now that the new Umno leadership was in place. He said the new Umno president, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, assisted by the new deputy president, […]
Three independents ready to withdraw
SUNGAI PETANI, 29 March 2009: Three independent candidates who confirmed their candidacy for the Bukit Selambau state by-election on 7 April have indicated their willingness to withdraw for personal reasons. Major (Rtd) Anuar Abd Hamid said he was ready to withdraw if former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad rejoined Umno. The former Merbok Umno […]
BN’s Malcolm Mussen likes No.9
LUBOK ANTU, 29 March 2009: The Barisan Nasional candidate for the Batang Ai state by-election, Malcolm Mussen Lamoh, finds great comfort in the number nine. “I’m 49 years old, born in 1959, resigned from government service on the 19th (of March). The nomination day is today, March 29 while Batang Ai is state constituency number […]
Prohibition in Btg Ai on non-contesting parties
LUBOK ANTU, 29 March 2009: Police will tighten the enforcement of election regulations in the Batang Ai state seat which prohibits parties not contesting in the by-election from putting up flags or posters during the campaigning period. Sarawak Police Commissioner Datuk Mohmad Salleh told reporters here, only campaign paraphernalia such as flags, placards, banners and […]
Battle royale in Bkt Gantang
By Deborah LohTHE sun rose over Taiping’s famous Maxwell Hill on 29 March 2009 and cast a pink glow on the hundreds of police and Federal Reserve Unit personnel who took up positions around the large sports field in front of the Taiping Municipal Council building. This was where nominations for the Bukit Gantang parliamentary by-election would […]
Record-breaking number of candidates
By Shanon ShahCorrected at 7.05pm on 29 March 2009 SUNGAI PETANI, 29 Mar 2009: The Bukit Selambau by-election has broken all records: the Election Commission announced at noon today that 15 candidates would be vying for the state seat in Kedah come 7 April. Apart from the Barisan Nasional (BN)’s Datuk S Ganesan and Parti Keadilan Rakyat […]
Turning up in full force in Bkt Gantang
Deborah Loh
THE Bukit Gantang parliamentary by-election is expected to see a tough fight between the Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Rakyat (PR). Although there are three contenders, the real competition is between the Kampung Kubu Umno branch deputy chairperson Ismail Saffian and PAS’s embattled Perak Menteri Besar and Pasir Panjang assemblyperson Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin. […]
Azalina won’t quit cabinet
KUALA LUMPUR, 29 March 2009: Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, who failed to retain her seat on the Umno supreme council, is leaving it to incoming prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to decide on her position in the new cabinet. “It depends on the good offices of the incoming prime minister to […]
