PN tasks businessperson, surgeon with breaching Umno fort

 Perikatan Nasional has entrusted businessperson Zulkifli Jaafar and surgeon Dr Mohd Mazri Yahya with the task of making inroads into Umno’s birthplace Johor in the upcoming by-elections on Sept 9.

Zullkifli, who is the Pulai Bersatu division chief, will be contesting the Pulai parliamentary seat, which fell vacant following the death of its incumbent, Amanah deputy president Salahuddin Ayub.

In Pulai, non-Malay voters outnumber Malay voters with the Chinese at 40.47 percent, Indians 12.7 percent and Malays 44.17 percent.

Meanwhile, Mazri, who is the Johor PAS number two, will be contesting the Malay-majority Simpang Jeram state seat, which was also held by Salahuddin who succumbed to a brain haemorrhage on July 27.

Here Malays form 51.87 percent of the electorate, Chinese 44.58 percent and Indians 2.53 percent.

Zulkifli will be up against Johor Amanah vice-chairperson Suhaizan Kaiat in Pulai while Mazri will face engineer Nazri Abdul Rahman, who is also from Amanah.

Both Suhaizan and Nazri are Salahuddin's former aides.

In the state election held in March 2022, BN captured the lion’s share of the seats, winning 40. Pakatan Harapan bagged 12, PN three and Muda one.

The late Salahuddin Ayub

Prioritise your duty - Muhyiddin tells Zulkifli

Before announcing the candidates, PN chairperson Muhyiddin Yassin said he hoped the coalition’s decision to field locals would bear fruit.

"I hope that the decision will be accepted with an open heart for the sake of our party's victory," he added.

In his speech, Muhyiddin also reminded Zulkifli, who owns several businesses, to prioritise his duty as an MP should he win the election.

"During our discussion earlier, I told Zulkifli that in order to be an effective representative, he must hand over the duty of managing his companies to his family members.

"Because a parliamentary representative is a work that requires a full-time commitment," he said.

In the 15th general election in November, Salahuddin managed to defend the seat for his second term after receiving 64,900 votes to record a 33,174 votes majority against BN's Nur Jazlan Mohamed and PN's Loh Kah Yong.

For the Simpang Jeram state seat, Salahuddin received a total of 8,749 votes to defeat his contenders Zarul @ Mohamad Zahrul Salleh from PN (6,350), BN's Lokman Md Don (6,062), and Pejuang's Mahaizal Mahmor (208). - Mkini