Mahkota polls: Accept 'goodies' from all, but vote for PN, says ex-MB

Mahkota voters have been urged to accept “goodies” from any parties campaigning for the by-election but to vote for Perikatan Nasional at the ballot box, come polling day.

According to Harakahdaily, this advice was given by Johor PN chief Sahrudin Jamal.

“I would like to congratulate Mahkota voters. I see that suddenly there’s a surplus of local rice in the constituency, thanks to viral (sharing) on Facebook.

“You (voters) have to be careful. If they (campaigning parties) give (something), please take it. But (at the end of the day), vote for PN,” the PAS mouthpiece quoted the Bukit Kepong assemblyperson saying in his speech at the ceremony to unveil the PN candidate for the seat on Tuesday night.

Sahruddin’s (above) remarks mirror the advice given by the late PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat for Kelantan voters to accept the RM500 Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia payment given by the Najib Abdul Razak administration but ultimately vote for PAS in the general election.

Elaborating, Sahruddin said PN plays a bigger “check and balance” role in Johor, rather than functioning as an opposition.

“There’s no opposition in Johor, so we need a strong check and balance. This is to ensure there is a party to point out mistakes made by the state government.”

Sahrudin, who is from Bersatu, was Johor menteri besar from 2019 to 2020 when the party was part of Pakatan Harapan.

Sept 28 polls

PN is fielding Mohd Haizan Jaafar, a 58-year-old former semi-pro football player who had represented the state, against BN’s Syed Hussien Syed Abdullah, 40, who is Kluang Umno Youth chief, in the Sept 28 by-election.

Nomination falls on Sept 14 while early voting is on Sept 24, the Election Commission announced.

The Mahkota by-election was called following the death of the incumbent assemblyperson, Sharifah Azizah Syed Zain, 63, on Aug 2.

In the 2022 Johor election, Sharifah won by a comfortable margin of 5,166 voters over Pakatan Harapan’s Muhammad Taqiuddin Cheman.

She secured 16,611 votes over Taqiuddin’s tally of 11,445 with PN’s Mohamad Nor Lingan coming in a distant third with 7,614 votes.

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