Kubang Pasu rejected Mahathir?

http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/56587
Sep 11, 06 6:49am

Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamed today said that members of the ruling party had been bribed to vote against him in an election that blocked his bid to address its national assembly. Mahathir suffered a humiliating defeat on Saturday in a grassroots ballot in his Kubang Pasu constituency in Kedah, coming in ninth among 15 candidates vying for seven positions as delegates to the November assembly.

"I am confident that the decision in the recent elections is caused by bribes. I can't prove this but I know somebody saw one being passed to voters in envelopes. It was money that decided the day," Mahathir told reporters. Mahathir said the envelopes contained RM200 and a list of numbers which corresponded to the nominees running in the party ballot.

He said that of the seven numbers on the 'approved list' - 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 11 and 14 - all except No 14 got elected. His son, Mukhriz, who was No 10 on the list was elected, while Mahathir who was No 1 failed to make the cut."I know that bribery happens in any politics but I did not think that the ruling party itself used money politics," he said. "This so-called defeat in Kubang Pasu has not changed my mind at all. Actually it was a defeat but for me it's a moral victory.""I say three cheers for this government ... you have used a big sledgehammer to kill a single mosquito."

"I have a duty to correct things which go wrong to make sure that this country goes along the right path and to make sure that this country is not used by anybody for their own personal or family interest."

Invitation to the AGM Abdullah has reportedly assured Mahathir that he can attend the general assembly even though he will not be allowed to address it - a right given only to senior office bearers and delegates."We invite all party members to the assembly. (Mahathir) has never been excluded," Abdullah was quoted as saying by the Star.

- AFP