Isa gunning to lead Negri again?
Khairy’s agenda at that time, it is said, included the removal of Isa as the mentri besar. To make this happen, he allegedly influenced Pak Lah to shift Isa to the Linggi parliamentary seat with a promise to the outgoing mentri besar that he shall be given a Federal cabinet post after the 2004 general election.
By Shah A Dadameah, Malaysian Mirror
Talk is a-buzzing that supporters of Isa Abdul Samad are lobbying for him to head the state government in Negri Sembilan again should he win the Bagan Pinang by-election on Sunday.
However, it is understood that there is strong resistance by another group of much younger members who have ganged up to prevent him from even being considered for a state executive seat.
While the youngsters too do not want Umno and the Barisan Nasional to lose in Bagan Pinang they are not keen to give Isa room to move further than being a junior state assemblyman.
Yet, they have to concede that Isa’s popularity among the masses transcend race and social status and if the tide is in favour of putting him back at the helm there is not much that even Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, an influential figure in Negri Sembilan politics, can do to quell the demand.
Therefore, on the premise that Isa will walk away as the winner in Bagan Pinang, an interesting showdown between some veterans and the young Turks is on the cards after the Oct 11 by-election.
Isa has politely brushed aside the suggestion that he will be given a key position in the state government, saying he had not been promised anything and that his only motivation to win Bagan Pinang is that it is his hometown.
Current Mentri Besar Mohamad Hasan, reputedly a skilled public relations practitioner, has also dismissed speculations that there would be a reshuffle of the state executive council to include Isa in the lineup, saying the priority at the moment is to ensure a victory for the Barisan.
Not many people are taking their words seriously.
In a not-so-typical fashion of the Barisan, it had taken the party a relatively long time to pick its candidate for Bagan Pinang.
It was only after the Teluk Kemang Umno division had threatened to boycott the polls that the leadership named Isa as the party’s flag bearer. Isa has been quoted by several state and Federal leaders, as saying he is a reluctant candidate.
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