Reezal Merican to be retained in Cabinet if he defends Kepala Batas seat - Ismail Sabri

KEPALA BATAS: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has assured Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican will be reappointed as a Cabinet minister if Barisan Nasional (BN) is given a mandate by the people to form the government and the BN candidate wins the Kepala Batas parliamentary seat.

Ismail Sabri, who is the BN Prime Minister candidate for the 15th general election (GE15), is confident that Reezal Merican, who was announced as the BN candidate for the Kepala Batas parliamentary constituency yesterday, will retain the seat for a third term on Nov 19 following his outstanding achievements in government.

"This MP is hardworking. Reezal Merican is not only excellent as a MP but also as Minister of Housing and Local Government. Just holding the post for over a year, he has implemented various programmes for the benefit of the people.

"If he is successful, we will make sure he remains as Kepala Batas MP," he said when officiating the ground-breaking ceremony for the People's Housing Programme (PPR), Bandar Putra Bertam Mosque and Kepala Batas Youth Centre (KBYC) here today.

In GE14, Reezal Merican won the Kepala Batas parliamentary seat with a majority of 4,736 votes, defeating PKR candidate, Dr Zaidi Zakaria and Siti Mastura Muhammad of PAS, after obtaining 22,459 votes.

The Kepala Batas parliamentary constituency which is the legacy seat of the former Prime Minister, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, has been under BN for the past 35 years.

The Election Commission (EC) set Nov 19 as the polling day for GE15 with nomination day on Nov 5 and early voting on Nov 15.

-- BERNAMA