Muda candidate withdraws after video backlash

 

Muda’s Muhammad Noriswan Ishak, who was previously announced as the party’s candidate to contest the Repah seat in Negeri Sembilan, is withdrawing from the race.

A statement from the party’s election committee said Noriswan has decided to withdraw due to “personal reasons”.

“We thank (Noriswan) for the cooperation he has given and wish him the best in his future endeavours,” the statement read.

Previously, it was announced that the 32-year-old’s campaign will focus on improving healthcare facilities, addressing and solving local issues, and supporting local businesses to stimulate growth in the district.

The statement today does not mention whether the party intends to field another candidate in his place, or whether it was related to a controversy surrounding an old video that resurfaced after his candidacy was announced.

The 2021 video that Noriswan uploaded on TikTok showed him lamenting the lack of parking spaces at a shopping mall.

The video then cuts to a friend acting like a person with disabilities, with distorted facial expressions, clawed hands, and knocked knees. This was purported as a way to take advantage of parking spaces reserved for people with disabilities.

Noriswan later apologised after the video received criticism, claiming the video was actually to make fun of people who pretended to be disabled in order to get parking space.

In the wake of the backlash, the party also announced that all Muda candidates and the party’s top brass will be attending disability sensitisation training.

The contest in Repah is expected to see a race between the three-term DAP incumbent Veerapan Superamaniam against Gerakan’s Yong Li Yi.

During the 2018 election, Veerapan held the seat with a 4,758-vote majority after seeing off challenges from MCA’s Koh Kim Swee and PAS’ Abdul Razakek Abdul Rahim.

Nomination day for the upcoming election will take place tomorrow morning, while polling falls on Aug 12. Early voting for advanced voters is on Aug 8.