Vetting of all BN candidates by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) before the final selection is the best approach to ensure that those who are selected are clean besides giving a better image for the party.

Party leaders, observers and political analysts feel that this method will help the BN in looking for candidates who are truly qualified to lead the party's struggles.

Political observer Prof Dr Zainal Kling said this method would help the Prime Minister Najib Razak as the BN chief, in making the right choice by selecting candidates who were free from negative perception and allegations.

"A good record is a must for any 'winnable candidate' to fulfill the pledge made by Najib in looking for candidates who are truly qualified to lead the BN struggles," the head of the History, Heritage and Socio-Culture Cluster of the National Council of Professors (MPN), told Bernama.

Recently, MACC consultation and corruption prevention panel chief Johan Jaafar had proposed that the government make it compulsory for all political parties to submit their list of candidates to the commission for vetting to ensure that they were 'clean' besides avoiding any undesired allegations.

"The MACC vetting is an initial move to prove to the people that the government is very thorough in selecting candidates who will champion the cause of the people besides giving an assurance that the candidates selected are truly dependable," said Zainal.

A political analyst, Prof Madya Dr Samsul Adabi Mamat, meanwhile said the candidates who passed the MACC screening would give a positive picture to the people.

The move was appropriate because everyone would try to promote themselves as winnable candidates but they must abide by the findings of the screening by the MACC, said the lecturer of the Social Science and Humanities Faculty of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

However, he was confident that most of the candidates were qualified but the vetting would further strengthen the credibility of the candidates selected.

He said Umno and the BN needed candidates who were winnable and qualified to continue the struggle after the past leaders had succeeded in bringing development after gaining independence due to their wisdom in administering the country for national prosperity.

Will help boost BN image

Meanwhile, Puteri Umno head Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin said the vetting process could prove that the candidates selected were truly transparent and qualified.

"This is a positive step to avoid bigger problems that would bring inconvenience to the people if the candidate selected was found to be involved in corruption after the election," she said in a statement.

Rosnah said the vetting would also boost public confidence in the candidates selected.

In Kuching, the Batang Lupar parliamentarian Rohani Abdul Karim said the vetting process would help in boosting the BN image.

"We don't want candidates with hidden 'skeletons'," she said.

- Bernama - Malaysiakini, 22/12/2012, Chorus of support for MACC vetting of BN candidates