BATTLE FOR GELANG PATAH HEATS UP: Ghani willing to take on Kit Siang

Johor chief minister Ghani Othman has voiced his willingness to contest the Gelang Patah seat if caretaker Prime Minister Najib Razak asked him to do so, a move that will pit him against DAP adviser Lim kit Siang.

“I'm open to all options. If he (the PM) wants me to contest Gelang Patah, I'll abide by his decision,” the Star reported the Johor Mentri Besar as saying.

Kit Siang has already confirmed that he would fight for the Gelang Patah parliamentary seat. Gelang Patah became controversial after Kit Siang grabbed the seat from PKR Johor chief Chua Jui Meng, and sounded the DAP bugle cry to take the southern state by storm.

However, the DAP's promises to turn Johor - the birthplace of Umno - into another Penang, now run by Kit Siang's son Guan Eng - has alarmed many of the Johor Malay voters, giving Umno leaders a weapon to hack back at the Pakatan Rakyat led by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.

I was the one who gave Nusa Jaya its name

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin expressed confidence that Najib would pick the right contender for Gelang Patah, which he added, was a multiracial constituency that had flourished under the BN-led state government.

“Gelang Patah includes Nusajaya, which I named when I was Mentri Besar. From nothing, it has now become an important development that has benefited the Malays, Chinese and Indians in the area. Businesses have flourished and there have been extraordinary investments,” said Muhyiddin.

The other state seat under the Gelang Patah parliamentary umbrella is Skudai, which is currently held by DAP Johor chief Boo Cheng Hau.

Lembah Pantai

The DPM also said BN had a good chance of reclaiming the Lembah Pantai parliamentary seat won by PKR's Nurul Izzah Anwar in 2008. According to him, the people recognised the work done by UMNO contender Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin over the last four years.

Nurul, who has discovered more than 4,000 dubious names on the Lembah Pantai electoral roll, has already begun legal action against the Election Commission, the National Registration Department and the Government of Malaysia in a bid to force the authorities to clean up the roll.

Malaysia Chronicle