JOHOR BY-ELECTIONS | Johor Umno Youth chief Noor Azleen Ambros has downplayed Perikatan Nasional's attempts to woo support from Chinese voters on the back of questions raised over Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's reform agenda.
When contacted, Azleen said he believes Chinese and non-Malay support for PN in Pulai parliamentary and Simpang Jeram state seats will still be hampered by reservations towards PAS as its component party.
"I don’t think the Chinese can afford to vote for PAS due to PAS’ extreme political narrative.
"In addition, can the Chinese really trust PAS to manage this country's economy?" Azleen (above), the Pasir Gudang Umno Youth chief, told Malaysiakini.
PN is fielding Pulai Bersatu deputy division chief Zulkifli Jaafar for the parliamentary seat, and Johor PAS deputy commissioner Dr Mazri Yahya in Simpang Jeram.
An unexpected vacancy caused by the death of Amanah deputy president the late Salahuddin Ayub has triggered the twin by-elections on Sept 9.
In Pulai, Salahuddin defended the seat in GE15 based on a majority non-Malay support, while a majority of Malay votes had gone to his main opponent, Pulai Umno division chief Nur Jazlan Mohamed.
At the time, PN's candidate from Gerakan, Loh Kah Yong, trailed in third place.
The Pulai seat comprises two state seats - Kempas and Perling - with 166,563 registered voters, according to Election Commission statistics as of the last 15th general election.
Of the two seats, Kempas has a bigger Malay voter base at 55 percent as of the last general election, while Perling was majority non-Malay at over 60 percent.
PN's renewed drive to expand its Malay-majority support base follows a Kuala Lumpur High Court decision yesterday to grant an application from the prosecution for a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) on all 47 charges against Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on alleged corruption involving Yayasan Akalbudi.
Commenting further, Azleen said Zahid's DNAA has effectively removed a "stumbling block" in Umno's campaigns.
"Now there is no more stumbling block and so I foresee our campaign in the remaining few days will go on smoothly," said Azleen.
Azleen added that Zahid had also gone through the right channels in court to clear his name which had been tarnished with the corruption allegations.
"If anyone wants to play the perception game, the public is wise enough to make up their minds," he said.
Meanwhile, Azleen in an earlier statement said Johor Umno Youth welcomes the DNAA verdict, and that the prosecution's 11 grounds for application show how the charges against Zahid were "politically motivated" to bring down Umno.
The DNAA was granted despite judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah finding that the prosecution had established prima facie (answerable case) against the Umno president, who was ordered to enter his defence.
The prosecution in its application said that the DNAA request was for several reasons, including to allow the MACC to conduct further investigations; to look into the possibility that there was selective prosecution; and to wait for the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on former attorney-general Tommy Thomas’ memoir.
Earlier today, Harapan Pulai candidate Suhaizan Kaiat said he believes the issue will not affect his chances to defend the seat, even after Taman Medan assemblyperson Dr Afif Bahardin's call last night for Chinese voters to reconsider their votes. - Mkini
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