06/07/1998

Anwar awaits report on BN defeat in Arau

DEPUTY Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has asked the Perlis Umno Liaison Committee to submit a detailed report on the defeat of the candidate in the Arau Parliamentary seat by-election on Saturday. The post mortem report would be discussed at the next meeting of the Umno Supreme Council, he told reporters after launching the Malaysia Jet Endurance Grand Prix 98 at the Awana Tajung Malai in Langkawi yesterday. According to Bernama, Anwar, who is also Umno Deputy President, declined further comments until he had studied the report from Perlis Umno. In the by-election PAS' Hashim Jasin won by a majority of 1,323 votes against BN's . Hashim polled 12,864 votes against the 11,541 for Ismail. The by-election was held following the death of the BN Member of Parliament Kamaruddin Ahmad on May 25. In the general election of 1995, Kamaruddin received 16,266 votes to beat Mohd Zain Hamzah of the now defunct with a majority of 6,929 votes. Wendy Lim reports: UMNO secretary-general Datuk Sabbaruddin Chik described the Barisan Nasional defeat in Saturday's Arau parliamentary by- election in Perlis as "unexpected". "We have lost ... what is there to do. The important thing is that Umno studies the reasons for the defeat. Many things are unexpected," he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur yesterday when asked to comment on BN's defeat. Sabbaruddin, who is also the Culture, Arts and Tourism Minister, was speaking to reporters after the annual Floral Fest 98 in Kuala Lumpur which was launched by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Asked if the defeat could be due to Ismail's relationship to Perlis Menteri Besar Datuk Seri , Sabbaruddin said he would not speculate, adding that the party would look into the reasons for the defeat. Ismail, who is Arau Youth chief and State Umno deputy head, is the younger brother of Shahidan. "I would also like to know the cause of this (defeat). I cannot say (if it is because of their relationship) because I do not know for sure ... however, it (the outcome of the by-election) certainly needs to be investigated. "In the previous election, we won with a majority of some 6,000 votes. Now, we lost to Pas by more than 1,300 votes. There is a difference of 5,000 votes ... there must be some reason (why this happened)," he said. (END)