 Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun and Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail will go head to head in the Kajang by-election which is being held against a backdrop of political conspiracy and a hope of renewal. Wan Azizah and Chew were the only individuals who filed nomination papers and were confirmed as candidates at the Kajang Municipal Sports Complex at Bandar Baru Bangi this morning. Chew of the MCA is Barisan Nasional’s candidate, while Wan Azizah of the PKR will be Pakatan Rakyat’s standard bearer in the March 23 polls. Wan Azizah was chosen as Pakatan’s replacement candidate after her husband Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was disqualified following a Appeals Court decision last week which found Anwar guilty of sodomy and sentenced him to five years in jail. Pakatan has claimed the BN manipulated the judicial process to disqualify him from contesting. PKR had admitted that the by-election was to enable Anwar to take over as Selangor Menteri Besar. Chew, a veteran MCA leader, will spearhead BN’s efforts to win back the trust of urban, more educated voters. The BN had lost this cohort of influential voters during the 13th general election last year. Chew arrived to file her nomination papers at 8.50am followed by Wan Azizah at 8.55am. Chew was accompanied by senior BN leaders such as Deputy BN chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Umno vice president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. Wan Azizah was accompanied by Anwar, Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim and PKR deputy president Azmin Ali. There are 38,965 voters in Kajang of which Malays make up 48%, Chinese 41% and Indians 10%. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of its state assemblyperson Lee Chin Cheh of the PKR. In the last general election, Lee garnered 19,571 votes, to win by a majority of 6,824 votes. BN’s Lee Ban Seng obtained 12,747 votes, while Mohamad Ismail of Berjasa got 1,014 votes. Speaking to reporters later, Muhyiddin said BN would modify its strategy accordingly now that Wan Azizah was taking Anwar's place. "Before this it was about Anwar wanting to be Menteri Besar, now it’s a different story," Muhyiddin said. He also refuted claims that BN had a hand in the Court of Appeal decision that disqualified Anwar. "I think that the rakyat knows that our systems, whether it is the courts or something else, are transparent. We do not cover up anything and our judges are independent. "This (the case) was not about Anwar and the government or the courts and the government. This is an ordinary trial. There is no connection to the government," he said. The nomination process, meanwhile, caused a massive jam in the normally quiet Bandar Baru Bangi suburb as thousands of Pakatan and BN supporters flooded the streets around the sports complex. This led police to cordon off main roads leading to the sports complex. One of those roads connected to the North–South Expressway, causing traffic along the highway which leads from Kuala Lumpur to Johor Baru to be backed up for eight kilometres. – March 11, 2014. TMI
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