Malacca Umno lawmaker attends start of Johor PN campaign

Malacca Umno assemblyperson Muhammad Jailani Khamis attended a high-profile Perikatan Nasional event in Johor last night.

The event was to mark the start of PN's campaign for the Simpang Jeram and Pulai by-elections taking place on Sept 9.

At one point, PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan informed the audience of Jailani's presence and described the latter as a "friend from Malacca".

According to The Star, Jailani (above) said he attended the event on behalf of Muafakat Nasional, an NGO led by former BN secretary-general Annuar Musa.

Annuar was expelled from Umno in December last year for allegedly undermining Umno. Following this, he started the Muafakat Nasional group and was later admitted into PAS.

"I am representing Annuar (here) as Muafakat Nasional is firm in its belief in the unity of the ummah.

"That happens to also be the same spirit shared by PN. We believe that this unity is not dead and we do not make enemies with any political parties," he said.

Need for space

Jailani said his presence at the event was not indicative of his departure from Umno.

"It does not say anything. We just want this unity to continue. If not through PAS, Umno and Bersatu, then through Muafakat Nasional as an NGO.

"There needs to be a space for Malay parties to sit together and be united," he added.

However, Jailani's action will likely ruffle feathers with the Umno leadership, which has vowed to support Pakatan Harapan's bid to defend both seats.

He became the Rembia lawmaker in 2018 on a PKR ticket before defecting in 2020. He would join Umno a year later.

Upon being re-elected during the 2021 Malacca legislative assembly elections on a BN ticket, he was appointed to then-chief minister Sulaiman Md Ali's state executive council.

However, when Ab Rauf Yusoh took over as chief minister in March this year, Jailani was dropped from the executive council.

Jailani retained the Rembia seat in the 2021 state election with 41.6 percent of the vote share. In July, the Malacca legislative assembly passed laws which were designed to discourage defections.

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