‘I’ll give PAS first seat in Malacca’

If Yuhaizad Abdullah is right, the Malacca state assembly will have its first Malay-Muslim opposition representative.

MERLIMAU: PAS’ candidate for the Merlimau by-election, Yuhaizad Abdullah, believes he can give the party its first seat in Malacca.

Speaking to reporters last night soon after Pakatan Rakyat announced that he was its candidate for the March 6 vote, Yuhaizad said the opposition parties had gained a sure footing in the Umno stronghold and the time was ripe for a PAS takeover.

He noted that PAS lost to Umno by 5,000 votes in the 2004 general election but reduced that figure by more than half in 2008.

“I’m optimistic that the time has come for us to snatch this seat from Barisan Nasional,” he said.

“For the past three years, we and our friends in PKR and DAP have made a lot of new inroads in Merlimau. We have opened new branches and we have been organising Pakatan programmes consistently.”

Yuhaizad said his victory would be a boon to Malay-Muslim interest in the state because he would be the first opposition state assemblyman from the community.

But he promised that he would be a voice for the Merlimau Chinese and Indians as well.

Yuhaizad, 38, is a fulltime politician. He is deputy chief of Malacca PAS’ Youth wing as well deputy chief of the party’s Jasin division.

He is also a member of the party’s election, democracy and mobilisation committee.

He is married and has four children. Jasin is his hometown. - FMT