Nought to gain and all to lose in Kajang, Khir Toyo tells BN

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 1 — Barisan Nasional (BN) should forego the Kajang by-election as its victory there was “impossible”, former Selangor mentri besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo said today.

The Umno veteran said contesting the seat would only lead to the coalition being made a punching bag to distract from the leadership crisis currently in PKR.

“Don’t contest. It is quite impossible to win the seat and a victory will be pointless as it changes nothing,” Mohamad told when contacted today.

Pakatan Rakyat currently holds 44 of the 56 seats in the Selangor state assembly and is in no danger of losing hold of the administration regardless of who wins the poll.

Saying the by-election was outcome of a rumoured power struggle in PKR, the man who last helmed a BN administration in the state said the coalition’s entry was precisely what its rival was hoping for in order to divert attention away from its internal problems.

“It’s a trap. Instead of getting involved in the by-election and wasting money, we should just focus on real problems like rising living costs,” Khir said.

“So never mind if they call us cowards for not contesting. Let them. We should think about the bigger picture,” he added.

Although considered an MCA seat, Umno has sent out feelers about the party possibly contesting in place of its Chinese partners, citing the 49-per cent Malay majority in the constituency.

Today, Khir echoed the view of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad for MCA to contest the seat, if the coalition remains adamant on fielding a challenger to Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Saying that Umno must honour its promises to its partners, the former Sungai Panjang state assemblyman also pointed out that the Malay nationalist party did not fare well in some of the seats it took over from MCA in Election 2013 and even lost some to PR.

In a surprise move on Monday, PKR’s Lee Chin Cheh resigned as Kajang assemblyman without giving a reason, paving the way for PKR de facto leader Anwar to contest the by-election.

Rumours persist that Lee vacated his seat to allow Anwar to gain entry into the Selangor state assembly and head off a full-blown power struggle involving party deputy president Azmin Ali and Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim.

While popular with the general public, Khalid’s penchant for unilateral decision-making in administering the country’s wealthiest state is understood to be a source of dissatisfaction among PR leaders in the state.

Lee won the Kajang seat in the May 5 general election with a 6,824-vote majority.