Wan Saiful: PN confident of retaining Tasek Gelugor and Nibong Tebal

GE15 | Tasek Gelugor parliamentary seat candidate Wan Saiful Wan Jan believes Perikatan Nasional can retain the Tasek Gelugor and Nibong Tebal seats in Penang with a “cleaner prime minister candidate and good service records of the incumbent MPs”.

He said a vote for him is a vote to ensure Muhyiddin Yassin would be the next prime minister again.

“Muhyiddin, the PN coalition chief, also has a set of corruption-free leaders to form the next federal government that will provide good governance,” he told Malaysiakini.

Wan Saiful said he is having an obstacle-free election campaign in the constituency and has received overwhelming support from the Malay, Chinese and Indian communities since the beginning of his campaign after the nomination day.

PN coalition comprises Bersatu, PAS, Gerakan, Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) and Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (Star).

Wan Saiful said coming to Tasek Gelugor is not new to him as he has been here since 2018 for numerous programmes as a Bersatu information chief and PTPTN chairperson.

“I’m not a stranger in Tasek Gelugor. I’m familiar with the local issues and the locality here,” he told Malaysiakini.

Five-cornered fight in Tasek Gelugor

Wan Saiful is facing a five-cornered fight against Warisan’s Mohamad Akmal Azahar, BN’s Muhamad Yusoff Mohd Noor, Pakatan Harapan’s Nik Abdul Razak Nik Md Ridzuan, and Pejuang’s Dr Abdul Halim Sher Jung.

Wan Saiful is the information chief of PN since August 2020. He also served as special adviser to former education minister Maszlee Malik from May to November 2018.

Before joining politics, Wan Saiful was chief executive officer of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas) co-founded by Tunku Zain Al-'Abidin Tuanku Muhriz, the son of the Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan, Tuanku Muhriz Almarhum Tuanku Munawir.

Commenting about his opponents in the election, he said Harapan candidate Nik Abdul Razak is a complete stranger to the constituency. The same applies to Warisan and Pejuang candidates.

“Our real challenge is against Tasek Gelugor Umno division chief Muhamad Yusoff, who is also the Sungai Dua assemblyperson and the opposition whip in the state legislative assembly.

“That is an advantage and disadvantage for Umno, I think. He is already an assemblyperson, and he should have held his position and served the constituents.

“For some reason, Harapan also fielded its assemblyperson as the candidate for the parliamentary seat, like Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow who is contesting the Batu Kawan parliamentary seat,” Wan Saiful added.

Chow is the Padang Kota assemblyperson.

He said it was strange that BN and Harapan had the same attitude and strategy as they could be learning from the same teacher in fielding existing assemblypersons to the parliamentary seats.

“My biggest strength here is the strength of the party. The message that we bring is that the people of Tasek Gelugor are not simply voting for an MP, but they are voting for someone who is going to become the next prime minister.

“Our main strength is that we are the only coalition that is offering a clean and trustworthy set of leaders in the form of Muhyiddin and PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang,” he said.

Four-cornered fight in Nibong Tebal

When asked whether he thinks the stigma of incumbent Tasek Gelugor MP Shabudin Yahaya being a traitor as he contested under Umno but joined Bersatu after the GE14 will affect his victory in the election, Wan Saiful said Shabudin made a brave and necessary move, not a betrayal.

“It was a crucial period where the country was facing political turmoil and Shabudin needed to make a decision to save the country to form a stable government under Muhyiddin to provide good governance,” he added.

“Shabudin crossed over from Umno to Bersatu in December 2018. It is definitely a major advantage for me as the seat was held by PN and the incumbent is supporting me in the election campaign. It’s rare to see an incumbent who let go of their seats and still support the candidate who replaces them.”

Shabudin, the two-term Tasek Gelugor MP, was the deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department and he is the chairperson of Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia.

Commenting on Nibong Tebal parliamentary seat incumbent Mansor Othman, Wan Saiful said the party is confident to retain the seat as Mansor had satisfactorily served his constituents.

Mansor, who was the former deputy minister of the Environment and Water Ministry is facing a four-cornered fight against Malaysia Makkal Sakti Party president RS Thanenthiran for BN, Harapan’s Fadhlina Sidek and independent candidate Goh Kheng Huat.

Goh, 60, was the Nibong Tebal MP from 1999 to 2004.

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