JOHOR BY-ELECTIONS | For a person entrusted with the heavy task of denying the government its two-thirds majority in the Dewan Rakyat, Perikatan Nasional’s Pulai candidate Zulkifli Jaafar appears quite unfazed.
The 50-year-old, whose profile listed directorships in six different companies, said pressure is part and parcel of building up businesses.
“I’m used to pressure,” the Pulai Bersatu deputy division chief told Malaysiakini on Monday, the third day of campaigning,
“Even in business, you will feel that (pressure). So I just chill,” Zulkifli said.
One reason Zulkifli is able to be so “chill”, Malaysiakini observed, is that he has a team assisting him with the more nuanced campaign work.
During the interview at the Pulai PN office, he had two assistants accompanying him and at the start of the interview, Zulkifli apologised for not going through the questions sent in advance, which one of his assistants then guided him to answer.
Another assistant was in charge of handling his campaign movements, largely involving visits to public areas - mosques, food courts, night markets, and others.
On social media, several WhatsApp groups and an official Facebook page provided timely updates on Zulkifli’s campaign trail, mostly showing him engaging with crowds of local residents.
After speaking to Malaysiakini, Zulkifli was rushed off to meet and greet voters at a mamak restaurant next door.
As Zulkifli shook hands and posed with diners, a campaign volunteer was in charge of following up with explanations on why they should vote for him, including alleged failures of Perling assemblyperson Liew Chin Tong in resolving basic local issues.
He was then taken to pose for a photograph under a street close circuit camera which had allegedly been left non-functioning, posing a security hazard.
“We will play up this issue later,” another one of his volunteer team was overheard saying.
It was the same when it came to strategising which polling districts Zulkifli should focus on.
“The polling district focus is something handled by the main PN team,” Zulkifli said when asked whether he had personally identified targeted areas based on voting trends from the last 15th general election.
One of the persons responsible for coordinating Zulkifli’s day-to-day campaign was Pulai PN information chief Kamal Azizi Muhammad.
Kamal said a key strategy was to ensure PN’s machinery from Bersatu, PAS, and Gerakan reaches all 289 voting streams within two weeks, rather than focus on specific areas in the 40 polling districts.
“After we analysed the strength of our machinery, we are very confident that we will have no major issues because we received support from other states.
“InsyaAllah we will be able to penetrate all the streams,” Kamal told Malaysiakini on Tuesday when met at a ceramah hosted by Pulai PAS.
He added that PN’s machinery was also capable of campaigning without Zulkifli’s presence, to ensure larger coverage in the limited time, including targeted programmes for women and non-Muslims.
That is not to say, however, that Zulkifli has no knowledge of his surroundings.
During the interview, he said his background in business, including with former Johor menteri besar the late Osman Sapian, contributed to a personal understanding of economic disparity and overall public welfare.
“Both Kempas and Perling have their own pros and cons, each with different needs. In Kempas we know there are poorer areas, squatter settlements.
“People’s welfare on the other hand, like in Perling, for the Chinese community and others in more elite areas, they are more focused on security issues,” Zulkifli added.
Kempas and Perling are two state seats under the Pulai parliamentary constituency.
Of the two seats, Kempas has a bigger Malay voter base at 55 percent as of the last general election, while Perling has a majority non-Malay base at over 60 percent.
In both seats, PN came in last during GE15, bagging just 21.5 percent of votes in Kempas, and 15 percent in Perling.
However, the six state elections have indicated that a sizable number of BN voters may swing to PN.
During GE15, BN won 32 percent of votes in Kempas, and 23.5 percent of votes in Perling.
Johor BN deputy chief Nur Jazlan Mohamed - who was BN’s Pulai candidate in the last election - is working hard to ensure that the coalition supporters don’t flip.
Pakatan Harapan, meanwhile, is relying on the seat’s late-incumbent Salahuddin Ayub to maintain their level of support - which when combined with BN, would, in theory, give them over 80 percent of the votes.
Zulkifli, however, appeared unfazed by the combined influence of Salahuddin and Jazlan.
“It is difficult to talk about influence. He (Salahuddin) was a two-term MP, so it is normal to build influence.
“People will always remember his contributions, I admit that,” he said.
The twin by-elections in Pulai and the Simpang Jeram state seat were called following Salahuddin’s death.
Salahuddin first won the Parliament seat in 2018, defeating Jazlan who had held Pulai for three terms prior.
In Simpang Jeram and Pulai, both Harapan candidates have largely campaigned on the back of Salahuddin’s legacy, including the various Rahmah initiatives and how it is a policy that counters attempts at sowing division among the people.
Zulkifli, however, credited his role as a member of the Parent Teacher Association, at a local Chinese primary school his four children attend, as his key to open engagements with Chinese voters, who were seen to have largely contributed towards Salahuddin’s victory.
Meanwhile, PN leaders on Zulkifli’s campaign trail, particularly from PAS and Bersatu, repeated claims of DAP’s alleged influence as part of the government to further their own agenda and threaten Malay-Muslim interests.
‘No outside forces’
Harapan and BN leaders have called on voters to reject influences from “outside forces” allegedly against values of moderation and unity held by Johoreans.
Among others, Johor Umno Youth chief Noor Azlene Ambros described PN’s claim of rising support for the coalition, riding on results from the recent six state elections, as one that would destroy the ‘Bangsa Johor’ values based on unity.
Zulkifli denied the perception and instead, those PN leaders from outside Johor only came to assist the local campaigns.
“They came to help us. But in the end, the method of campaigning is by us here in Johor.
“They have to follow our guide. They can’t do as they please, he added.
Zulkifli, who listed his highest academic qualification as being a holder of an Entrepreneur Development Certificate from UiTM Shah Alam, will be going up against Harapan’s Suhaizan Kaiat, a former Universiti Teknologi Malaysia lecturer.
The third contender is independent candidate Samsudin Mohd Fauzi, an NGO leader who contested and lost the Putrajaya seat in GE15.
While being seemingly the least experienced candidate among the three, Zulkifli said he remains undaunted by the prospect of debating in Parliament should he win on Sept 9.
“If we do not debate (in Parliament), how are we to raise the people's voice?
“To debate means we are bringing up what the people want. No problem,” the Pulai Bersatu deputy division chief said when asked about his key areas of interest.
The Election Commission set polling day for the twin by-elections on Sept 9. - Mkini
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