NAJIB Razak was never a part of Umno’s campaign plans for the recently concluded Sg Kandis by-election, said party secretary-general Annuar Musa.

Campaign planners did not even consider roping in the former party president to help Barisan Nasional candidate Lokman Noor Adam win the state seat. 

“To say our main strategy was to make Najib the chief campaigner is totally wrong. That, I can assure you, was not our strategy,” said Annuar.

He was responding to Umno Titiwangsa division head Johari Abdul Ghani who called the party unwise in getting the disgraced former party president to campaign for the Selangor state seat.

“He (Johari) got that totally wrong. Our decision was to campaign in Sg Kandis without Najib,” Annuar told The Malaysian Insight.

Annuar, who is the Ketereh MP, said it was Lokman who had roped in Najib to campaign for him in Sg Kandis.

“We checked, and it was our candidate, Lokman, who invited him. We did not stop him (Najib) because he is a party member.”

Annuar said the Sg Kandis by-election campaign was led by Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and his deputy Mohammad Hassan, with the aid of Selangor liaison chief Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

“These three had nothing to do with the campaign programmes attended by Najib,” Annuar said.

Johari said Umno’s association with Najib, pending his corruption trial and with the scandal surrounding him, was a mistake that would cost the party the people’s trust.

Johari went on to say that Najib must not be deployed on the campaign trails for the Seri Setia and Balakong by-elections on September 8.

Zahid subsequently reprimanded Johari for putting down in public a former party leader. “We should still respect a friend who is now down and out,” Zahid said.

Najib appeared twice over 14 days to campaign for Lokman but was a no-show at a ceramah where he was to speak alongside Annuar.

PKR’s Mohd Zawawi Ahmad Mughni won the state seat with 15,427 votes and a 5,842 majority over Lokman’s 9,585 votes. – August 9, 2018.