Battle to recapture Muhyiddin’s Gambir stronghold

MUAR: The fight is on in Gambir, where Barisan Nasional is keen on recapturing the stronghold of Perikatan Nasional chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

“Barisan Nasional has proven to have a long track record to give the best services to the rakyat.

“I was taught to continue this tradition of service and I am prepared to give the best to all the voters,” said its candidate Sahrihan Jani at Dewan Serbaguna Gambir yesterday.

Sahrihan, a lawyer, will be in a four-cornered fight against Perikatan, Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang) and PKR.

The Gambir state seat was previously won by Muhyiddin of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu). He had won the seat as a Pakatan Harapan candidate during the 14th General Election in 2018.

Muhyiddin beat Barisan’s M Asojan Muniyandy, who was the incumbent, with a majority of 10,280 votes and Mahfodz Mohamed from PAS.

This time, Johor Bersatu information chief Mohd Solihan Badri will represent Perikatan, while Suraya Sulaiman will contest under Pejuang’s ticket and Naim Jusri under PKR.

Naim, who is Johor PKR leadership council secretary, was not allowed to enter the nomination hall after he tested positive for Covid-19.

However, he was allowed to fill in his papers and managed to submit the nomination documents to the EC through his representative.

When met by reporters later, Johor PKR chief Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh confirmed that Naim had tested positive.

“He is currently under isolation,” said Syed Ibrahim, adding that such an incident would not stop the party from campaigning in Gambir.

“This could even be an advantage for us,” he said.