‘Parachute candidates’ for next election a no-no – MP

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TAWAU: Kalabakan member of parliament Datuk Abdul Ghapur Salleh expressed hope that the Barisan Nasional’s (BN) top leadership will not select ‘parachute candidates’ in the state for the forthcoming 13th general election but rather the selection to be made through the Chief Minister.

Abdul Ghapur reasoned that the Chief Minister is the person leading Sabah BN’s election machinery and he is responsible for ensuring the party’s victory.

He said as the person responsible for determining the victory of a candidate, the Chief Minister should rightly be given the mandate to assess and determine the eligibility of a person’s candidature.

“If we have the machinery in Sabah headed by the Chief Minister, it therefore follows that he will determine the direction of either the victory or the defeat of the candidates,” Abdul Ghapur said yesterday during the Kalabakan Umno Hari Raya open house at his residence.

“We do not want any element from outside who makes criticisms. And if this happens before the election, we will lose,” he said.

Abdul Ghapur said if the candidate chosen was ‘thrown in a parachute from above’, Sabah BN should not be held responsible if the candidate lost.

He was responding to the statement of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad that BN component party leaders should continue choosing “parachute” candidates from among the highly educated and professionally experienced as the practice is still suitable in the current political scenario.

Dr Mahathir said such individuals would be capable of carrying out the tasks given, effectively, especially in making government administration smoother.

“We still need ‘parachute’ candidates; we cannot reject the practice. When I was prime minister, Tun Daim Zainuddin (former finance minister) was made a parachute candidate as we were aware of his capability,” he said this when replying to a question from Tambun Tulang assemblyman and former Perlis Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim after giving a talk on “The Role and Challenges of Elected Representatives” at the Kuala Selangor Umno Division Hall on Thursday.

Abdul Ghapur also expressed hope that the state will be allocated with a bigger allocation in the 2012 budget to ensure implementation of development projects for the people under the 10th Malaysian Plan.

He expected the government to provide incentives such as a bonus equivalent to a month’s salary to civil servants while poor students in the rural areas are provided with free school uniforms and shoes.

Touching on the Kalabakan-Sapulut Road, he disclosed that sealing of the road will commence on October 8, 2011, and the government had approved RM300 million for the purpose.

According to Abdul Ghapur, the work will take two years to complete.