PETALING JAYA: Caretaker health minister Khairy Jamaluddin is still unsure where he will contest in the 15th general election (GE15).
“If I knew that, I wouldn’t be so worried,” he said in jest to reporters on the sidelines of the Clinical Research Malaysia (CRM) conference today, before adding that he would “leave it to the party’s leadership (to decide)”.
Khairy, who has held the Rembau parliamentary seat since 2008, said last month that he was asked not to defend the Rembau seat to make way for Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan, who wanted a role in federal-level politics.
“I was (recently) sent a message by Mohamad to get out of the way. I’ll follow what Umno wants and where they want me to contest. It’s okay,” he had said.
“I just haven’t received any instructions. I’d feel embarrassed to trespass into other areas. Worst-case scenario, I won’t contest.”
Mohamad, a former Negeri Sembilan menteri besar who has held the Rantau state seat since 2004, did not say which parliamentary seat he intended to contest.
Rantau is one of four state seats under the Rembau parliamentary constituency.
Khairy has since been linked to the Port Dickson and Seremban seats in Negeri Sembilan and the Alor Setar seat in Kedah.
On Monday, he said he was open to contesting any parliamentary seat in GE15. “I am a politician, when asked to go anywhere, I’ll go. It doesn’t matter where,” Berita Harian quoted him as saying.
“Many seats were offered to me, but those who offered them were local leaders. The party leadership will make the decision,” he said, adding that he was open to contesting anywhere, be it in Negeri Sembilan or in the Klang Valley.-FMT