Umno information chief Ahmad Maslan said today every vote in the upcoming Tenang by-election was important for the BN.

He said the BN should give equal importance to the votes of all the cazlanommunities, of both genders, of the young and the old, of the Felda settlers and of the Orang Asli.

"We have to be careful. We should not say that the vote of one person is more important than another's," he told reporters after a meeting with Felda settlers at Felda Tenang, Labis.

Ahmad, who is a deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Department, said the opposition would surely play up various issues during the by-election campaign to confuse the voters.

The Tenang state seat fell vacant following the death of the assemblyman, Sulaiman Taha, 59, of the BN last Friday.

Sulaiman had retained the seat in the 2008 general election with a majority of 2,492 votes by beating Mohd Saim Siran of PAS.

1,000 BN youths to be mobilised

Meanwhile, BN Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin said the BN Youth had begun to make preparations to face the by-election, and added that more than 1,000 BN youths would help in the campaign.

"BN Youth will support any candidate selected by the BN top leadership," he told reporters after the opening of BN Youth "Jelajah One Malaysia" programme by Malacca Chief Minister Mohd Ali Rustam in Kampung Godek, Semabok Dalam, Malacca.

The Election Commission is scheduled to meet on Friday and announce the date for nomination and polling in the by-election.    

- Bernama