Amanah’s Azhar Abdul Shukur, formerly the Pakatan Harapan candidate for the 2016 Sungai Besar by-election, will contest against PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang in the Marang parliamentary seat in the upcoming 15th general election.
While making the announcement today, Azhar (above) said he realised the party has made an “extraordinary decision for an ordinary person” like him.
“Yes, I am running in Marang. Last night (Harapan chairperson) Anwar Ibrahim announced he would run in Tambun, Perak.
“Tambun is not a safe seat but as the general in this mother of all elections, Anwar has made an extraordinary decision,” he said in a posting on Facebook today.
Anwar has been announced as Harapan’s prime ministerial candidate, and thus, he should have ordinarily chosen a safe seat, Azhar said.
“But Anwar is not an ordinary person.
“When the party decided for me to contest in Marang, the most secure stronghold in the world, I accepted happily and when Anwar announced he would contest in Tambun, I realised the party has made an extraordinary decision for an ordinary person like me,” he said.
Azhar said his nomination for Marang has not been officially announced but it will not stop him from sharing the good news.
Hadi’s fortress
In the previous general election (GE14), Hadi won the Marang parliamentary seat with 53,749 votes, defeating BN candidate Mohamad Nor Endot by 21,954 votes.
Meanwhile, the Harapan candidate from PKR, Zawawi Sulong, lost his deposit.
Hadi has won in Marang for the past six terms, making the seat a PAS stronghold that is difficult to penetrate.
Acknowledging the difficulty for Harapan to make waves in the PAS stronghold, Azhar said it is not a big issue.
“Marang has traditionally been a PAS and Umno seat. Usually, PAS will win and sometimes Umno wins. This is not a seat that is easy to win for Harapan.
“If Harapan loses here, it will not lose a seat, but if Harapan wins, it would be historical.
“Last night I whispered to my wife, let us shape history together,” he said. - Mkini
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