BY-ELECTIONS TRAINING GROUND TO TEST PARTY COMPATIBILITY IN UNITY GOV'T - AHMAD ZAHID

KUALA PILAH, June 29 (Bernama) -- By-elections serve as a training ground to test the compatibility of various parties in the Unity Government, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said.

Ahmad Zahid, who is UMNO president, said this includes cooperation and support to ensure the victory of candidates, even if they are from different parties, adding that this has been demonstrated in several by-elections previously.

“Currently, there is a (by-election) campaign in Sungai Bakap. Although the candidate is not from UMNO, our approach is to assist our friends from other parties. I appreciate the UMNO machinery in Penang, supported by Perlis, Kedah, and Northern Perak working as if this was a UMNO candidate.

“We also faced the Pelangai by-election in Pahang (contested by UMNO), where the AMANAH president (Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu) campaigned for us daily. I saw component party members from AMANAH, PKR and DAP also helping.

“In the Pulai and Simpang Jeram by-elections in Johor, the UMNO machinery worked hard to ensure the victory of AMANAH candidates, with support from DAP and PKR. Mat Sabu thanked us. This demonstrates the structured organisation of our machinery and the spirit of camaraderie among us,” he said.

He said this when speaking at the Kuala Pilah UMNO division annual general meeting here today, attended by over 700 delegates from 126 branches.

Ahmad Zahid also sought the cooperation of all UMNO members to ensure the party become a dominant force again in the country’s political arena and not just accepted by the members.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Prime Minister also denied the Malay and the agenda of Islam championed by UMNO has come under threat since coming under the patronage of the Unity Government, since various allocations have been announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for the purpose.

“In Parliament, when I brought the Cabinet paper, including from the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development, Anthony Loke (DAP secretary) who sits on my right, Nga Kor Ming (DAP Vice President), did not oppose but rather gave their support,” he said.

-- BERNAMA