Shahidan to defend Arau under PN ticket
This comes after Perlis Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairperson Mohd Shukri Ramli's announcement tonight that the "senior Umno leader" in the state will defend the seat under the coalition's ticket.
The question regarding the fate of incumbent Arau MP Shahidan Kassim, who was dropped from BN’s candidates' line-up in the 15th general election (GE15), has been answered.
This comes after Perlis Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairperson Mohd Shukri Ramli's announcement tonight that the "senior Umno leader" in the state will defend the seat under the coalition's ticket.
Shahidan (above, middle) has served as Perlis menteri besar and state BN chairperson.
He had won the seat in the 2018 general election with a 4,856-vote majority against Pakatan Harapan and PAS opponents.
Meanwhile, Shahidan made a surprise appearance at Terengganu PN’s candidate announcement event in Kuala Terengganu, where he said he had just arrived at the behest of PN’s leaders and would have to rush back to Perlis afterwards.
“I need to go back to Perlis to fill up forms. The appointment letter (as a candidate) has been given but the form has yet to be filled,” he said.
However, Shahidan said he was unsure which party he would move to next.
In his brief speech lasting less than five minutes, the minister lambasted Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, whom he accuses of being a “liar” for supposedly failing to keep his promise.
According to him, Zahid had disregarded shortlisted candidates nominated by Umno’s top five leaders.
Previously, it was reported that BN has dropped Shahidan as an electoral candidate for Arau and fielded his protégé Rozabil Abd Rahman instead, who will be making his electoral debut.
This caused dissatisfaction in Shahidan and the Arau Umno division.
In a related development, BN’s incumbent Padang Besar MP Zahidi Zainul Abidin has not been named as a PN candidate.
Despite being dropped as a BN candidate, Zahidi had insisted that he would defend his seat.
