GEORGE TOWN: The Penang Barisan Nasional (BN) is ready to help Umno wrest back Permatang Pauh from Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) in the upcoming by-election.
Its chairman, Teng Chang Yeow said all BN component parties had held meetings since late last year to discuss preparation on the ground for the by-election.
“Based on indications that I’ve received, Umno will field its candidate for the by-election and we are ready to help them win the seat,” he told Bernama when contacted here yesterday.
He said Penang BN leaders would convene a closed-door meeting this week to discuss strategies and campaign preparation for the by-election.
Teng, who is also Penang Gerakan chairman said all party members were committed to work together to ensure that the BN candidate win the by-election.
He said although the BN election machinery had yet to be launched, its members on the ground began working since early this year.
“Work on the ground has started with registration of voters and we will decide the date to launch our election machinery after the meeting this week,” he said.
He said BN was now focusing on a new multimedia campaign to capture the majority of the young voters.
The Permatang Pauh seat was declared vacant after its incumbent, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was disqualified as member of parliament after the Pardons Board rejected a petition for a royal pardon sought by the opposition leader’s family over his conviction for sodomising his former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.
Anwar is currently serving a five-year jail sentence at the Sungai Buloh Prison.
In the 2013 General Election, Anwar retained the Permatang Pauh seat when he defeated BN’s Dr Mazlan Ismail by a 11,721-vote majority. – Bernama