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BN names two ex-Cabinet ministers for tough constituencies in KL

This article is more than 12 months old

Barisan Nasional releases list of election candidates for Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia's ruling coalition Barisan Nasional (BN) yesterday named two former Cabinet ministers in its list of election candidates for some of the toughest-to-win constituencies - those in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur.

Nine of 11 parliament seats in Kuala Lumpur are held by the opposition.

Urban voters, comprising some of the most highly educated and wealthiest Malaysians, along with the urban poor pressed by high living costs, regularly picked the opposition in past polls.

Candidates for the administrative capital of Putrajaya and the financial island of Labuan were also named yesterday.

The announcement of the 13 candidates was the first unveiling of BN's line-up for the May 9 polling.

"We hope to win all seats in Federal Territories," BN secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor told a news conference. "We will ensure all our promises as outlined in the manifesto are kept".

The 11 constituencies in Kuala Lumpur and one each for Putrajaya and Labuan make up the Federal Territories (FT).

These territories are administered by the federal government and thus have no state legislatures.BN won the Kuala Lumpur seats of Titiwangsa and Setiawangsa in the 2013 general elections, together with Putrajaya and Labuan.

Second Finance Minister Johari Abdul Ghani will defend Titiwangsa, while former federal territories minister Zulhasnan Rafique has been chosen to again lead Setiawangsa, replacing the incumbent MP.

Tengku Adnan, who is also federal territories minister, will defend his Putrajaya seat, and incumbent Labuan MP Rozman Isli will defend his Labuan seat.

"We want the candidate which we choose to be the one which the people want. Like in Setiawangsa, the people want Tan Sri Zulhasnan to contest, so we are listening to what the rakyat wants," he said.

"Like me, this is my fourth term. When an analysis was done of Putrajaya residents, they are the ones who want me to return," he said.

Another significant move yesterday was to bring back another former federal territories minister, Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin, to the Lembah Pantai seat.

Tengku Adnan said Raja Nong Chik has worked the ground in the last five years.

The constituency was won by Ms Nurul Izzah Anwar, the daughter of opposition chief Anwar Ibrahim, in the last two elections.

WORLD