THE Cameron Highlands formula might not necessarily work for Umno in the forthcoming Semenyih by-election on March 2, said Selangor Umno secretary Johan Abd Aziz, rejecting calls for Barisan Nasional to put a PAS candidate under its banner.

In Cameron Highlands, BN placed a direct candidate, Ramli Mohd Nor, who eventually won the by-election for the parliamentary seat on January 26.

Johan said Semenyih Umno has shortlisted six names – including one who is not a division leader – for the party leadership to decide upon.

“We can’t use the Cameron Highlands template in Semenyih. We have proposed six local names. Let’s see what the party says. This is still in discussion,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

He was responding to calls made on social media for BN to place a direct candidate in Semenyih in place of an Umno person.

Other Umno leaders have also urged naming a PAS candidate under the BN banner.

“To win Semenyih, we place a PAS candidate, a local born, under BN ticket,” said former Sg Besar MP, Budiman Mohd Zohdi, on Facebook.

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang also urged BN to use the Cameron Highlands formula to pick the candidate for Semenyih.

The candidate must be a local born and has his own leadership qualities, Hadi said.

However, Johan said the party leadership must look at the shortlisted candidates first before deciding if it wants to nominate a different candidate.

Johan, the former Semenyih assemblyman and current Hulu Langat Umno chief, said locals as well as the local Umno division might reject an outsider.

“And if they do decide on a different candidate, they must inform the division first so that we can be prepared,” he said.

The candidate will be known by February 8, he said.

He, however, expressed confidence that Umno could win the by-election following cooperation with PAS.

“I think Pakatan Harapan is also not confident they can win after seeing us working with PAS.

“Based on the voter turnout in the recent three by-elections in Selangor, any party which can bring out its group of voters has the advantage.”

The Semenyih state seat by-election will be held on March 2 following the death of its assemblyman – Mohd Bakhtiar Mohd Nor of Bersatu – of a heart attack on January 11.

PAS has decided to sit out in favour of BN and has said it is supporting the latter to fight against the PH candidate.

This is a continuation of a trend in which the Islamist party cooperates with Umno to work against PH.

In the 14th general election last May, Bakhtiar polled 23,428 votes to beat candidates from BN, PAS and PSM to win by 8,964 votes.

Johan was defeated in the last general election after holding the seat since 2008.

PSM’s S. Arutchelvan has also been contesting the state seat since 2008. – February 2, 2019.