BY-ELECTION BATU SAPI

Decision after dates are known 2010/10/13 Share | KOTA KINABALU: Barisan Nasional will only make an announcement pertaining to the Batu Sapi parliamentary by-election after nomination and polling dates have been fixed, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said. "Let's wait for the Election Commission to decide on the dates before we make any announcement." Muhyiddin was speaking after paying his last respects to the late Batu Sapi member of parliament Datuk Edmund Chong Ket Wah and offering condolences to his widow, Datin Linda Tsen, at the Fook Lu Siew funeral parlour here. The deputy BN chairman, who spent 25 minutes at the parlour, was accompanied by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan and Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon. The EC had, on Tuesday, said that it would meet tomorrow to decide on the nomination and polling dates for the by-election. In the last general election, Chong, who was from Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), garnered 9,479 votes, defeating independent candidate Chung Kwong Wing, who had 3,708 votes. Describing the late Chong, who was in his second term as Batu Sapi MP, as a hardworking and dedicated MP who was close to his constituents, Muhyiddin said his death was a great loss to Sabah and Malaysia as a whole. "On behalf of the government, we offer our heartfelt condolences to Chong's widow and the family." Chong, 54, was killed on the spot when his Kawasaki 750cc motorcycle collided with a Mercedes Benz S320 on the coastal road here last Saturday. Chong, who was also PBS treasurer-general, was on his way back from the Kota Kinabalu International Airport to his house in Likas after buying a flight ticket to attend the Parliament sitting which began yesterday. Before returning to Kuala Lumpur, Muhyiddin had lunch with state BN component party leaders at the Sutera Harbour. Meanwhile, Pairin and several other party colleagues visited the accident scene yesterday 2010/10/13 By Joniston Bangkuai jon@nst.com.my Share | Read more: Decision after dates are known http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/8pdmcan/Article#ixzz12ICXbh2L