Opposition using Kajang by-election to settle internal squabbles - Zambry

The Kajang by-election is a political game created by the opposition to resolve their internal squabbles, said Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir.

Zambry, who is also the chairman of Perak Umno liaison is confident that the Barisan Nasional (BN) government will not be part of the game played by opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).

"He (Anwar) has opened the ring and wants to invite BN into the ring which is like a theatre to create a new situation," he told reporters after attending the Perak Leadership Transformation programme organised by the Perak State Secretariat Office, here, Monday.

The Kajang state by-election is held following the resignation of Lee Chin Cheh of PKR on Jan 27. The next day, the opposition named Anwar as their candidate for the seat.

On Feb 1, Anwar admitted that the opposition had planned to vacate the Kajang seat to allow him to contest in the constituency to resolve their internal squabbles.

Zambry said the situation is similar to that in Perak after the 2008 general election when Bota State Assemblyman Datuk Nasaruddin Hashim of BN hopped over to Pakatan Rakyat to allow the opposition to control the Perak state government.

"They (opposition ) invited BN state assemblymen to join them and did not foresee that three of their assemblymen would quit PR because of internal squabbles.

After the 12th general election in 2008, three PR assemblymen in Perak quit their respective parties and expressed support for BN, giving the majority to BN to form the state government.

Four assemblyman, Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi (Behrang), Mohd Osman Jalilu (Changkat Jering), both of PKR and Hee Yit Foong (Jelapang) of DAP quit their parties and became independents.

On the Perak Transformation project via Projek Perak Aman Jaya, he said 10,000 jobs would be made available this year.

In 2012, the project created 12,000 jobs and development grew by 7.1 per cent as announced by the Department of Statistics.