JOHOR POLLS | With less than four days of campaigning left in the Johor polls, political parties are racing to gain any advantage they can and Bersatu is no exception.
Bersatu information chief Wan Saiful Wan Jan (above) floated the idea that the faction aligned to Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi may harbour an agenda to install their own menteri besar candidate if BN wins in Johor, bypassing incumbent menteri besar Hasni Mohammad who is the Johor Umno chief.
The person of choice, Wan Saiful said, is Umno supreme council member Mohd Puad Zarkashi, a strong supporter of ex-prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, who has been convicted of money laundering, abuse of power and criminal breach of trust.
Wan Saiful claimed to have heard of such lobbying during a visit to Rengit where Puad is contesting.
“There is word that Puad has for weeks lobbied to become the new menteri besar, replacing Hasni, if Umno wins.
“Among the arguments used is that an Umno supreme council member appointed by Zahid (as menteri besar) would allow Johor Umno to be aligned closer with the Umno president’s agenda compared to Hasni.
“Puad is said to have shown undivided loyalty to Zahid and Najib and it was about time he was rewarded,” Wan Saiful said in a statement on Facebook.
Not all happy with ‘court cluster’
Bersatu had in the past lumped the likes of Zahid and Najib together as the “court cluster”, which they described as leaders facing graft cases and are trying to consolidate their position to escape justice.
The narrative plays on a divide within Umno between Zahid’s faction and those who feel that the “court cluster” is a liability to the party and should be rid of in the party polls at the end of this year.
Zahid is facing 47 charges of money laundering, criminal breach of trust and bribery over tens of millions of ringgit belonging to Yayasan Akalbudi, a charitable organisation he founded.
He is also facing 40 charges of bribery involving more than RM43 million for the Foreign Visa System.
Officially, BN has branded Hasni as their “poster boy” for the Johor polls.
Najib, who is not contesting in the Johor polls, has campaigned actively with several high-profile appearances.
This was despite reluctance among some BN leaders about promoting a leader convicted of corruption.
Umno’s Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin, for example, had stressed that Hasni and Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob are the party’s public faces for the Johor polls.
This was after the health minister was asked about his thoughts on Najib’s high-profile campaigns.
Najib is presently appealing his 12-year jail sentence and RM210 million fine at the Federal Court.
Puad was the Batu Pahat MP from 2008 until his defeat in 2013.
Rengit is a state seat within the Batu Pahat parliamentary constituency.
He is facing Perikatan Nasional’s Mohammad Huzair Lajis, PKR’s Khairuddin A Rahim and Pejuang’s Nizam Bashir Abdul Kariem Bashir in the state seat. - Mkini
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