Scientist tells of dare that led to ‘date’ with Muhyiddin

 

Iskandar Shah Abd Rahman said he was given 48 hours by PKR to decide if he would contest in Pagoh.

TANGKAK: Geophysicist Iskandar Shah Abd Rahman never thought his decision to accept a dare would lead to him facing two political heavyweights in the general election (GE15).

“At first, I applied because my friends dared me to, just to find out if it was a gimmick or otherwise,” Iskandar Shah told FMT, referring to PKR’s initiative to allow Malaysians to nominate themselves as candidates.

He said he was also curious as to whether the party was serious about reforms in its initiative to open up candidacies for GE15 to the public.

Not long after submitting his application, the father of four received a phone call from an aide to PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli.

The aide said the party was ready to offer him a chance to stand on its ticket in Pagoh, the stronghold of former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who is now contesting as a Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidate.

“I was only given 48 hours to answer yes or no. A day later I informed them I wanted to stand,” said Iskandar who has been an inactive PKR member since 2020.

Iskandar said PKR’s initiative to open up candidacies to the public allows an injection of fresh blood into the party without any bureaucracy.

“I never thought I would get the chance to contest on a Pakatan Harapan (PH) ticket.”

He revealed that he and his mother have differing political views but was, nonetheless, glad she gave her blessings for him to contest in GE15.

“She even accompanied me on nomination day.”

Iskandar is up against Muhyiddin and Razali Ibrahim of Barisan Nasional (BN) in a three-cornered fight for the Pagoh seat. - FMT