PUTRAJAYA: Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (pic) has been elected Pakatan Harapan's election committee chairman for the Semenyih polls, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced.
The Prime Minister and Pakatan chairman said that the coalition was prepared to face any of the opposition candidate, adding that members have discussed strategies on how to retain the seat.
He said that Pakatan was confident of winning the Semenyih by-election unless there was something "unusual" carried out by Barisan Nasional and PAS.
He said the coalition would be able to garner the majority support of the voters across racial lines including the Malays.
"In the Semenyih by-election, we believe we can win - unless there is something 'unusual 'done by Umno and PAS.
"This is because Barisan appears to be no longer in existence ... just Umno and PAS," he told reporters at the Perdana Leadership Foundation here on Friday (Feb 1).
"For instance, in the previous Cameron Highlands by-election, although we did not win, but those who supported Pakatan had increased.
"We believe that they (opposition) won due to the cooperation between the Islamist party PAS and the infidel (kafir) party Umno. That is what PAS said, not from me.
"So, when the kafir and Islam cooperate, they can 'score a win' for their candidate," he added.
The by-election for the Semenyih state seat in Selangor will be held on March 2. Nomination day will fall on Feb 16.
The seat fell vacant following the death of assemblyman Bakhtiar Mohd Nor on Jan 11 from a heart attack. He was 57.
In the 14th General Election, Bakhtiar defeated candidates from Barisan, PAS and Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) in a four-cornered fight, with a majority of 8,964 votes. He garnered 23,428 votes.
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