KUALA LUMPUR: Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said he had no interest in contesting the Langkawi parliamentary seat in the next general election as challenged to do so by Pakatan Harapan chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Hishammuddin said he would seek re-election in his Sembrong parliamentary constituency in Johor.
“I see this as ‘kid’s stuff’, challenging me to stand in Langkawi. I want to remind Mahathir that he was the one who offered to contest in Pekan, Pahang. I never offered myself to contest in Langkawi. I am very comfortable in Sembrong, so there is no need for me to say anything more,” he said when asked to comment on the challenge thrown to him to stand in Langkawi in the next general election.
Hishammuddin said he had never said he would contest in Langkawi, as that was just Mahathir’s wish.
“I said the other day that if he wants to contest in Pekan, then go ahead and contest … but that was his (Mahathir’s) wish. I never said I wanted to contest in Langkawi.
“I am very disappointed with the politician who is a veteran and I am not going to entertain these things,” he said.
Last Sunday, Hishammuddin described Mahathir’s statement that he would contest in Pekan in the coming general election as a populist remark. Hishammuddin also saw that statement as an attempt to distract Umno members who were currently holding their divisional delegates’ meetings. — Bernama