JOHOR BARU: Johor Umno deputy chief Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed (pic) is standing by his decision not to contest in Pulai in the 15th General Election despite appeals from voters, especially from the Chinese community for him to make a comeback.
The former three-term Pulai MP said after nearly four years under a Pakatan Harapan MP, the voters especially Chinese businessmen, realised that only Barisan Nasional could bring socio-economic stability to the constituency as well as Johor.
"In the 14th General Election, Pakatan gave (voters) the hope that they would be taken care of by a Chinese Finance Minister for the first time since 1976 but they were left disappointed.
"The Pakatan government also punished economic-friendly projects that came from Barisan’s time without any economic basis or thoughts about the consequences.
"In terms of education, Pakatan also denied the Chinese community’s rights when they cut the annual allocations for Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman for having ties with MCA.
"Instead, the voters are pressed by the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) as instructed by their Heroic Chinese Minister," said Nur Jazlan in a Facebook posting on Tuesday (Oct 25).
He was believed to be referring to former finance minister Lim Guan Eng who introduced the Special Voluntary Declaration Programme under the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) to facilitate those who opened overseas bank accounts with income from Malaysia but that income has not been reported or taxed.
“Although there are many calls for me to contest again in GE15, I am standing by my decision not to do so.
"I am still not convinced that young Chinese voters can do away with their prejudice and 'tak dapat apa-apa' attitude or feel they were sidelined by Barisan’s policies and show that they are willing to change.
"All the while Barisan was in power, all races were treated within their rights according to the Constitution.
"Even Umno has adapted to current times and has been fighting for other races and not only the Malays," he said.
He also hit out on the Pakatan’s "tradition" of moving bigwigs around to contest in each general election.
"Not to mention that they have parachute candidates who contest in both parliamentary and state seats such as Salahuddin (Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub).
"He is Simpang Jeram assemblyman yet still wanted to contest in Pulai and after winning, he disappeared from the radar and it was difficult for the people to meet their YB even once a year," Nur Jazlan added.
