IPOH – Former Umno secretary-general and party stalwart Tan Sri Annuar Musa has rebuked perceptions that party president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is deliberately giving Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim an “easy walkover” in Tambun.
This comes after several reports saying that election preparations for Tambun Umno have been hampered by a lack of funds and materials, leading to a perception that Barisan Nasional (BN) has failed to launch an effective campaign in the parliamentary constituency.
While admitting that the party is cash-strapped, Annuar stressed that it was unfair to say Zahid had handed Tambun on a silver platter to the PKR president.
“On (the lack of) funding, Umno is not a rich political party like in the past.
“So I can understand if some of the candidates feel that they do not have enough but it’s not because of that, because Datuk Seri Zahid wants to give Anwar a free win in Tambun.
“That is an unfair accusation,” he said during a press conference after briefing Umno election workers at the party’s Tambun operations centre here today.
When pressed further on the lack of BN and Umno heavyweights helping the campaign in Tambun, Annuar said all coalition leaders are mainly bogged down in their respective areas.
“That is because this is a general election, everybody is facing a very tough fight in their own respective constituency, even PM (Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob) is spending a lot of time in Bera, so it falls to people like me to help where I can.
“But again, to draw a conclusion to say that he (Zahid) is giving Anwar an easy walkover is unfair,” he said.
In Tambun, Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman Anwar will go up against incumbent Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu, who is also Perak Perikatan Nasional (PN) chief and a former menteri besar.
Contenders from other coalitions, such as BN’s Datuk Aminuddin Md Hanafiah and Gerakan Tanah Air’s Abdul Rahim Tahir, are also in the running but have been drowned out by PH and PN heavyweights. – The Vibes, November 15, 2022
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