New faces make up one-third of BN parliamentary candidates, almost half for state seats

 

WE PLEDGE: BN chairman Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak (centre) raises hands with other BN leaders after handing out the documents of nomination and pledge to the presidents of BN component parties and state BN chairmen at Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC). Also seen is his deputy Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (sixth left). — Bernama photo 

 

THE DOCUMENTS: Najib (right) handing out the documents of Nomination and BN Pledge to Sarawak chief minister who is also state BN chairman Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud at Menara Dato Onn, Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. At left is BN deputy chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin. — Bernama photo

 

KUALA LUMPUR: One-third of the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidates for Parliamentary seats in the 13th General Election (GE13) will be new faces while almost half of its candidates for the State Legislative Assembly seats will be new ones.

BN chairman Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced today that the coalition would be fielding 33 per cent new faces for t
he Parliamentary constituencies while for the State Assembly seats 49 per cent would be new faces.

He said this was to meet the wishes and hopes of the voters who wanted to see that the BN and Umno was prepared to make the change.

He said the balance between new and experienced candidates was most important because the BN did not want to merely highlight the changes but as a party, the coalition should have people who could administer and deliver the aspirations of the people.

“If everyone of those in the government are new faces without any experience, this will hinder the BN government’s ability to fulfill the wishes and needs of the rakyat,” he told reporters after handing out the documents of Nomination and BN Pledge to the presidents of the BN component parties and state BN chairmen, here.

Najib pointed out that 91 per cent of the BN candidates for the Parliamentary seats had minimum academic qualification of a diploma.

He said that 31 per cent of the BN candidates for Parliamentary seats comprised professionals including academicians, doctors, lawyers as well as ulamas.

“In addition, there are also candidates comprising popular individuals at the grassroots level, the focus is on their capability to become grassroots leaders,” he said.

Revealing that the candidates list was also balanced with the participation of women and youths, Najib said that most of the new faces were being fielded in the opposition-led states.

Describing the candidate line-up as the “Transformation Team for BN”, Najib was confident that it was the strongest team and could fulfill the ‘Aku Janji BN’ or the ‘BN Pledge’ and drive the government transformation plan.

“I hope the evaluation on the line-up would be looked at from the whole context, that is, not only those who are contesting but their capability in the context of forming a solid and strong government that could fulfill the needs and aspirations of the people in future.

“We cannot just look at this general election but should look at the subsequent developments, because we must have a line-up that can implement all the BN pledges,” he said, referring to the BN election manifesto launched recently that consisted of 17 issues for the prosperity of the people.

 

Source : Borneo Post