He said he was speaking out of respect for the former prime minister, whom he acknowledged had done much for the island.
“With all due respect, I wish Mahathir would not contest in Langkawi. The reason is when the election campaign begins, there may be people who will say things that could be hurtful to him.
“He has done a lot for Langkawi. I acknowledge that. Therefore, we should not hurt his feelings,” he told FMT when contacted.
Speculation has been rife about the possibility of Mahathir contesting in the Langkawi, Kubang Pasu or Putrajaya parliamentary seats in GE14, although the general view is that it would be better for the PPBM chairman to contest in Langkawi.
In the last general election in 2013, Nawawi defeated PKR’s Ahmad Abdullah with an 11,861-vote majority in the island seat which has traditionally been a Barisan Nasional (BN) stronghold.
Before that, Abu Bakar Taib, a former parliamentary secretary in the agriculture ministry, held the seat for Umno for four consecutive terms.
It is still unclear who BN will field as its candidate in Langkawi this time around.
However, Nawawi said if he was chosen to run again, he would do his best to ensure that BN retains the seat.
“I feel that Langkawi BN has grown stronger. We are very united. I am confident BN will be able to retain Langkawi,” he said.
He said this was because the coalition had a large base of Umno members who are registered voters, who make up 40% of the total number.
He said this meant that Umno and BN would need only another 10% of votes in the constituency to secure victory.
As a centre for tourism, he added, Langkawi needed support from the federal government.
“If Langkawi falls to the opposition, the budget for Langkawi will not be much.
“Langkawi must remain with BN, similarly with Putrajaya, for it to continue to get sufficient budget for future tourism developments on the island,” he said, adding that this would ensure economic and political stability on the island.