By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani
PUTRAJAYA, Sept 30 – There’s good guilt and then there’s bad guilt, going by the argument Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein (picture) put forward today in defence of Tan Sri Isa Samad’s selection as Umno candidate in the Bagan Pinang by-election.
In praising the man whom Umno once found guilty of vote buying as “a loyal servant of the party”, Hishammuddin also called Isa the “people’s candidate,” in an acknowledgement to polls which suggest the former Umno vice-president was very popular in Bagan Pinang despite being tainted by his corrupt past.
“He is different from certain individuals who, when found guilty by the party, they are willing to curse the party that has served them. Tan Sri Isa is different. He is patient and strong, and his loyalty to the party is one matter which was considered by the top leadership,” he said.
Umno yesterday picked Isa as the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate for the Bagan Pinang by-election.
The by-election is expected to end Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) winning streak in all by-elections in the peninsula since the last general election as the constituency is considered an Umno stronghold.
Hishammuddin told reporters today that the party’s top leadership considered the wishes of the people when nominating Isa.
“The consideration the top leadership had in announcing Tan Sri Isa as our candidate is the fact that the people of Bagan Pinang and Teluk Kemang, and not only Umno but people of all races, wanted him,” he said.
Hishammuddin said that the opposition would try to tie Isa to his past but stressed that it was the voters who would decide Isa’s fate.
“At the end of the day, these people trying to tie him to the past are not the ones who are going to vote. The ones that are going to vote are the people there and the people there want him,” he said.
The Bagan Pinang by-election was made necessary following the death of BN’s Azman Mohammad Noor on Sept 4.
It is situated within the Teluk Kemang parliamentary constituency represented by PKR’s Datuk Kamarul Baharin Abbas.
Apart from Bagan Pinang, Umno also won the neighbouring Linggi state seat in last year’s election, while PR controls three other state seats in Teluk Kemang — Chuah (PKR), Lukut (DAP) and Port Dickson (PKR).
In March last year, Azman defeated Ramli Ismail of PAS, by some 2,000 votes.
BN is currently ruling the state with a simple majority after winning only 21 out of the 36 state constituencies.
