For PKR’s Pak Ya, time in prison is a ‘silver lining’

 

Pakatan Harapan’s Permatang candidate Yahya Mat Sahri said he is proud to have stood by PKR president Anwar Ibrahim for the past 25 years. (Bernama pic)

TANJONG KARANG: PKR’s Yahya Mat Sahri prefers to focus on the positives from his time spent at Kajang prison.

In 2016, the Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate for the Permatang seat was sentenced to two years in prison after being convicted of cheating a businessman of RM50,000 which the latter had paid to sponsor an event.

The transaction took place when he was a special officer to then Selangor menteri besar Khalid Ibrahim in 2008.

Fifteen years later, Yahya has come to terms with the decision and its consequences.

He said it has also come with a silver lining in the form of giving him the opportunity to interact with and better understand the struggles faced by both prison inmates and wardens.

This, he said, had given him a deeper understanding of the social issues faced by people from all walks of life, especially the poor and the marginalised.

Yahya said the prison serves as a “correctional institute”.

“We cannot see it negatively, the people have to understand that,” he said. He acknowledges, however, that some voters in the area may shun him due to his time in jail.

Legally prohibited from running for election in 2018, his wife Rozana Zainal Abidin stepped in and won the Permatang seat in the 14th general election (GE14).

Having completed the 5-year ban, Yahya will vie for the seat again at the state polls on Aug 12. He cites his status as a “local boy” and his commitment to PKR’s cause as reasons for his selection.

“I was among those who helped establish the party in Selangor. I brought Anwar Ibrahim from Bukit Damansara to Tanjong Karang (for his first ceramah) after he was sacked from Umno in September 1998.”

Yahya, who is known among the locals as Pak Ya, said he is proud to have been by Anwar’s side for the past 25 years.

“Being in and out of lockup after joining rallies to show solidarity for Anwar was the norm for me,” he said, adding that he had on multiple occasions rejected advice to abandon Anwar, who is also a former prisoner but is now the prime minister.

Yahya who was unsuccessful in his first bid for the Permatang seat in 1999 said he wants to promote a culture of learning.

With that in mind, he said he intends to organise training and classes for students as well as small- and medium-sized industry business owners.

“This will benefit future generations. I also want to promote Permatang as an eco-tourism destination.”

In the polls on Saturday, Yahya will take on Perikatan Nasional’s Nurul Syazwani Noh, the daughter of former Selangor Barisan Nasional chairman Noh Omar, in a straight fight. - FMT