Najib: BN's chances in Hulu Selangor very bright

Barisan Nasional's chances of winning back the Hulu Selangor parliamentary seat from PKR are very bright, said Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak
Najib, who is also Umno president and BN chairman, said he believed the situation in the constituency had changed since the 2008 general election

"BN can win. However, we have to be focused and show commitment to work hard in order to win," said Najib.

The Election Commission will meet next Friday to decide the dates for nomination and polling for the by-election in the constituency.

The Hulu Selangor seat fell vacant following the death of its MP Zainal Abidin Ahmad of PKR due to brain cancer yesterday.

Zainal, 71, who was a former menteri besar of Selangor when he was in the BN and joined PKR in 2005, defeated BN's G Palanivel by a slim majority of 198 votes in the last general.

Palanivel, who is MIC deputy chairman, was also Women, Family and Community Development Deputy Minister then.

Muhyiddin to lead the BN campaign

Najib said the BN election machinery had been activated with Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin appointed to lead the BN campaign, while Selangor Umno deputy liaison chief Noh Omar would be the election director and assisted by Hulu Selangor Umno chief Idris Bakar.

On MIC's request for its candidate to be fielded for the seat, Najib said he would be discussing it with MIC president S Samy Vellu before making any decision.

The constituency has 63,000 voters – Malays 51 percent, Chinese (26 percent), Indians (19 percent) and about 1,000 Orang Asli.

The three state seats in it -- Hulu Bernam, Batang Kali and Kuala Kubu Baharu -- were all won by the BN in the 2008 general election.
- Bernama