“Many have asked if I will accept the offer to contest in the Bandar Tun Razak parliamentary constituency.
“My answer is NO, although Bandar Tun Razak is a constituency where Barisan Nasional (BN) can win and defeat PKR,” she said in a Twitter post today.
An Umno Supreme Council member had recently said that Shahrizat was likely to stand in Bandar Tun Razak.
He said her name had been “almost finalised” by the top leadership and that an authorisation letter would most likely be issued this week.
The Supreme Council member, who declined to be named, said there were, however, some reservations about Shahrizat contesting in the Malay majority area due to her links to the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) issue.
“Some are concerned about the NFC issue. It could be used by the opposition against her.
“But then again, her name has been cleared. Let’s hope for the best as the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has cleared her name of any involvement in the RM250 million contract and loan to NFC,” he said.
Shahrizat’s husband Mohamed Salleh Ismail is NFC chairman while her children are its directors.
The public-funded firm was accused by the opposition of using government soft loans for purposes unrelated to cattle farming, including the purchase of luxury condominium units in Bangsar and Singapore and land in Putrajaya.
Shahrizat, who is also the Kepong Wanita Umno chief, was defeated in her former stronghold of Lembah Pantai in 2008 by PKR’s Nurul Izzah Anwar.
The Bandar Tun Razak seat has traditionally been contested by MCA. Earlier this year, Bandar Tun Razak Umno chief Rizalman Mokhtar told FMT he hoped the seat would be given to Umno.
MCA lost the Bandar Tun Razak seat to former PKR candidate Abdul Khalid Ibrahim in 2008. Khalid, the former Selangor menteri besar who is now an independent, won the seat again in 2013 with a big majority of 11,832 votes.
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