"Two days ago, I've written my resignation letter to the Teluk Kemang Umno division and the letter will be forwarded to the party headquarters either tomorrow (Friday) or the following day.
"This means that I am no longer an Umno member. So there is no issue of me being sacked because I'm no longer a member," he said to reporters during a last-minute press conference late Thursday (Sept 27).
Isa, who was Negri Sembilan mentri besar for 22 years and a former Umno vice-president, was responding to questions by reporters on the prospects of him facing disciplinary action by Umno for contesting in the by-election.
image: https://content.thestar.com.my/smg/settag/name=lotame/tags=Int_Property_Investment,Demo_Age_65plus_enr,Int_Automotive,Int_Lifestyle_Health_Fitness,Int_Tech_Telco,Int_Business_Finance_SME,Int_Property_Affluent,Demo_Gender_Male_enr,Int_Food,Int_Jobseeker_Healthcare,Int_Entertainment,Int_Jobseekers,Int_Automotive_Affluent,Int_Property,Int_Tech_Telco_Cellular_WirelessDevices,all,Demo_Gender_Female_enr,Demo_AffluentAudience,Int_Sports_Badminton,Int_Fashion_Beauty,Int_Business_Finance,Int_Food_EatingOut,Int_Jobseeker_Finance,Int_Business_Finance_Investors,Int_Jobseeker_BuilidingConstructionManufacturing,Int_Sports_Football,Int_Business_Finance_PersonalFinancing,Int_Sports_SportsEvents,Int_Jobseeker_F_and_B,Int_Property_Financing,Int_Sports,Int_Education
Isa explained that the reason he quit Umno was because he wanted to contest in the Oct 13 by-election.
"Because Umno is not contesting, so I'm offering myself to contest. According to party rules, I should be sacked.
"I've been an Umno member for a long time, and that is why I resigned from being a member. So they don't have to sack me. Instead, I sack myself," he quipped.
Isa had on Thursday (Sept 27) announced that he will contest the by-election as an independent candidate, saying that because he is a "PD boy".
Umno, on the other hand, said it would boycott the by-election because it was engineered to fulfil the political needs of an individual.
Meanwhile, Isa said he did not speak about his intention to contest the Port Dickson by-election with any top leaders in Umno.
"They didn't ask me. So, there's no need for me to ask them."
At the same time, Isa said he doesn't need to boast about his achievements in the parliamentary constituency to voters, because he has a good track record of serving the people of Port Dickson.
"I've been serving here for 40 years. The majority of Port Dickson people know who I am, they know my service and they can judge themselves.
"So, I'll leave it to the voters of Port Dickson, whether or not I deserve to be their MP," he added.
The Port Dickson by-election will see a five-cornered fight between Pakatan Harapan, PAS, Parti Rakyat Malaysia and two independent candidates - Stevie Chan Keng Leong and Isa.
PAS will field retired Lieutenant Colonel Mohd Nazari Mokhtar, who had served in the Royal Malaysian Air Force (TUDM) for 28 years, while PRM will field Ahmad Kamaruddin, who formerly led the Kapar PKR Youth wing between 2011 and 2014.
The Port Dickson parliamentary constituency, formerly known as Teluk Kemang, was traditionally contested by MIC.
Port Dickson has 72,212 registered voters, consisting of 42.7% Malays, 33.1% Chinese and 22% Indians.
The by-election was triggered by the exit of its incumbent MP Datuk Danyal Balagopal Abdullah to make way for PKR president-elect Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's return to the Parliament.
No comments:
Post a Comment