Sik Umno division chief Muhamad Khizri Abu Kassim has been given an unenviable task for the coming state election - unseating caretaker Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor.
Despite the gravity of his mission, the BN candidate for Jeneri is pumped up for the showdown as nomination day looms.
Speaking to Malaysiakini, Khizri (above) billed himself as the underdog in the fight.
However, he claimed this was actually to his advantage.
“I don’t feel nervous. For me, the fight is 50-50, anyone can win.
“…I’m the underdog and I feel easy about that because it is not a burden to carry.
“Sanusi is the menteri besar and the (Jeneri) incumbent. He has a lot to explain to the people, especially about his cases. It’s not me, it’s him,” he said when met by Malaysiakini last night.
Sanusi won the Jeneri seat in 2018 with 46.3 percent of votes in a three-cornered fight.
He then became menteri besar after Perikatan Nasional (PN) took power in Kedah in 2020 during a change in government.
Following this, PN’s popularity - and Sanusi’s - skyrocketed in the state.
In the 15th general election, 67 percent of voters in Jeneri voted PN.
Despite having been menteri besar for three years, Khizri believed that Sanusi had “done nothing” for the people of Jeneri during his term as their assemblyperson.
Asked about his campaign pledges during the elections, Khizri said he would offer the constituency better roads and better development such as building a bank and a Mara Junior Science College (MRSM) in the area.
But another factor that might be a double-edged sword for the BN candidate against the Kedah PN poster boy is Putrajaya’s onslaught on the latter.
The Jeneri incumbent was arrested just last month and claimed trial to two sedition charges for allegedly inciting disloyalty against a Malay ruler.
Meanwhile, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has also been trying to chip away at Sanusi’s leadership by dredging up a rare earth mining scandal in Sik. - Mkini
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