IPOH: Tambun parliamentary seat incumbent Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu said that as as a local, he holds many advantages to "take care" of the voters there compared to an "outsider".
"I am indeed a Tambun native and even after GE15 (the 15th General Election) ends, whether I win or not, I will still be there but we welcome anyone who wants to contest the seat.
"Certainly being a local candidate gives me an advantage because since 2018, I have spent a lot of time in Tambun and been close to the people," he told Bernama.
In GE14 in 2018, Ahmad Faizal, who contested on a Pakatan Harapan (PH) ticket using the PKR logo, won Tambun in a three-cornered clash against Barisan Nasional (BN) and PAS candidates, after garnering 38,661 votes, giving him a majority of 5,320 votes.
Ahmad Faizal, who is now Bersatu deputy president and also Perak Perikatan Nasional chairman, said the strategy of placing local candidates is expected to give advantages and bear fruit because they have always been with the people in good and bad times before.
"It is certain that we in Perikatan will present candidates from all parties in the coalition (for the state seats under the Tambun constituency), let's wait for the announcement that will be made soon on who will be my partners in the Tambun seat," he added.
On Thursday (Oct 20), Pakatan Harapan chairman and PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had announced that he will be contesting the Tambun seat in GE15. Nomination day for GE15 has been set for Nov 5 while polling will be on Nov 19. - Bernama
