UMNO vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob said that the Tasek Gelugor parliamentary seat would return to Umno in the 15th General Election (GE15). 

The prime minister said the purpose of his visit to Tasek Gelugor today was to ensure that the traditional Umno seat would return to the party after it “joined” another political party even though Umno won it in the previous general election (GE14). 

In GE14, the Tasek Gelugor parliamentary seat was won by the incumbent Shabudin Yahaya, who ran on UMNO’s ticket at the time but later joined Bersatu in December 2018. 

“I am confident that this seat will return to (Umno) fold,” he said in his speech at the launch of the Keluarga Malaysia Urban Community Strengthening programme today. 

When asked to comment on the statement made by Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin—who was confident that Bersatu would win the Tasek Gelugor seat—Ismail said that anyone who contested should show confidence. 

“For sure, I am more confident than him (Muhyiddin) because this seat used to be won by Umno, not Bersatu, but a former member of parliament switched parties. Even during the political tsunami, this seat was won by Umno,” he said. 

Ismail said the short list of candidates for the Tasek Gelugor parliamentary seat had been submitted to the party’s top five leaders for evaluation. – Bernama, October 19, 2022.