Penang PPBM chief defends decision to announce candidates outside the state

GEORGE TOWN: There is no specific reason why the announcement of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) candidates in Penang for the 14th general election (GE14) was made in Sungai Petani and not in the state.
Its chairman, Marzuki Yahya, said the decision to announce the GE14 candidates at a hotel in Sungai Petani was to coincide with a party event and the state leadership decided to announce it there.
"We had a party event in Sungai Petani yesterday (April 16) and it just happened that the leadership wanted to announce the party's Penang candidates there," he told theSun.
Marzuki also dismissed allegations that the decision to announce the party candidates outside Penang was made because there was disapproval from party members on the choice of the candidates.
theSun reported yesterday that Marzuki announced he would contest in the Tasek Gelugor parliamentary constituency.
He also announced party information chief Yaacob Othman as the candidate to contest in Penaga state seat.
Yaacob is a younger bother to the outgoing Penang Umno chief Datuk Seri Zainal Abidin Osman while former cabinet minister Datuk Seri Mohd Sharif Omar has been picked to contest in the Permatang Berangan state seat.
Businessman Zulkiply Md Lazim and lawyer Khaliq Mehtab Mohd Ishaq will contest the Teluk Bahang and Bertam state seats respectively.
A grassroots youth leader who spoke to theSun on condition of anonymity said many party members had voiced their disapproval over the party's selection of candidates, saying that the candidacy was not in line with the party's vision to empower youth.
He said that might be the reason why the announcement was made in Sungai Petani and not in Penang.