KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 17 — Retired top policeman Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador and actor-director Ahmad Idham Ahmad Nadzri are among the latest high-profile names listed as potential election candidates to contest under the Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) movement.
The former inspector-general of police has been proposed for the Rembau parliamentary seat while Ahmad Idham, who was also formerly Finas chief executive, has been proposed for the Port Dickson parliamentary seat, Berita Harian reported today.
“The names of both individuals concerned are included in the list that I brought to the leadership level as candidates for GTA Negri Sembilan through Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang).
“The decision on whether Abdul Hamid is selected as a candidate for the Rembau parliament seat and Ahmad Idham for the Port Dickson parliamentary seat will be decided by the top leadership of the party,” Negri Sembilan GTA deputy chairman Mohamad Jani Ismail was quoted saying.
Mohamad Jani, who is also Negri Sembilan Pejuang chief, said GTA needs high-profile candidates due to the fierce competition for the two seats in the 15th general election.
“We need to place big names like Abdul Hamid and Ahmad Idham to achieve victory in this election,” he was quoted as saying.
He believes Abdul Hamid is the best candidate for GTA to pit against Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, who is said to be eyeing Rembau.
He added that Ahmad Idham would be the ideal GTA candidate for Port Dickson whose incumbent MP is Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, head of the Pakatan Harapan coalition.
Mohamad Jani also said the state GTA chapter backs cooperation between the yet-to-be-registered coalition and Perikatan Nasional (PN), though it has yet to be confirmed.
“Negri Sembilan GTA welcomes efforts to establish cooperation with PN and is confident that it can further strengthen the work of the election machinery to achieve a big victory,” he was quoted as saying.
He said Negri Sembilan GTA will be launching its election machinery on October 23 at Senawang and the event will be attended by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who is chairman of both Pejuang and the coalition.
