PN's Haizan hopes coaching past can score non-Malay votes

MAHKOTA BY-ELECTION | Both candidates competing in the state by-election are hoping to bag non-Malay votes with their past connections with the community.

For Perikatan Nasional’s Haizan Jaafar, the ace up his sleeve is his experience coaching non-Malay football teams.

“I have coached Johor Indian youth football teams and I also coached the Chinese Kluang football team.

“That connection, I believe, can help me gain some votes from the Indian and Chinese communities,” the former Johor FA footballer turned Bersatu politician was quoted as saying by Free Malaysia Today.

Haizan (above, right) rival, BN’s Syed Hussien Syed Abdullah, meanwhile, is riding on his credentials as a former Chinese school student.

Both, however, also have to deal with their respective coalition’s baggage when it comes to non-Malay support.

For BN, there are concerns that Umno Youth chief Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh’s attacks on Seputeh MP Teresa Kok over the halal certificate issue will spurn non-Malays who support BN’s ally Pakatan Harapan.

Still an open contest

Meanwhile, PN has to contend with the perception that their policies and political positions do not take into account non-Malay interests.

At PN’s first ceramah in Mahkota yesterday, only three Chinese people turned up despite the talk being held in the polling district with the biggest Chinese population in the constituency.

Meanwhile, Haizan also brushed off the prediction by PAS deputy election chief Annuar Musa that BN would win Mahkota with a huge majority.

“For me, it’s still open. People can say whatever they want about whether BN will win with more than 30,000 votes (As Annuar predicted) or whatever,” he said.

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