BUKIT MERTAJAM, Feb 15 — Permatang Pauh Umno will not be using its previous campaign method in the event of a by-election being held in Permatang Pauh.

Permatang Pauh Umno head, Datuk Mohd Zaidi Mohd Said said the party would not repeat the mistake of parachuting a non-local candidate to contest in the by-election.

“At the Permatang Pauh and state Barisan Nasional levels, we had held two preliminary meetings with the various component parties as part of our preparation which will be activated after February 24.

“If the by-election is held, we will mobilise the entire machinery. The method of campaigning will be different from the previous one,” he told reporters after presenting oranges and ‘ang pow’ to 350 senior citizens from the Permatang Pauh parliamentary constituency, here, today.

On Feb 10, the Federal Court dismissed the appeal by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and upheld his conviction and five-year jail sentence for sodomising his former personal assistant Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan on June 26, 2008. Anwar is now being held at the Sungai Buloh Prison in Selangor.

Under Article 48(1)(e) of the Federal Constitution, a member of Parliament loses his eligibility if he is sentenced to more than one year’s jail or fined more than RM2,000.

Asked if Umno Permatang Pauh had submitted the names of prospective candidates for the by-election, Mohd Zaidi said so far had not been told to submit any name and the party would leave it to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is also Barisan Nasional chairman, to decide.

“I believe Barisan Nasional will make a decision based on the discussions among ourselves (BN component parties). However, we have not proposed any name yet... it is still too early,” he added. — Bernama