KUANTAN: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob is open to facing anyone in the contest for the Bera parliamentary seat in the 15th General Election (GE15).
Responding to PKR’s announcement that Abas Awang would be standing as candidate in the parliamentary constituency, Ismail Sabri, who is the incumbent, said competition in any election was normal in a democratic country.
The Umno vice-president said there was never a time when he won the seat without being challenged.
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Commenting on the seat transfers by PKR, Ismail Sabri said this was in contrast to Umno, where all incumbents were seen to be defending their seats.
“Perhaps they are not confident in the services they have provided to the voters (in their constituencies) so far, which has led them to go to other places and make new promises in order to influence voters in the new place.
“They can’t lie to the same set of voters. If they don’t serve, they can’t make any more promises as the people won’t believe them,” he was quoted as saying by Bernama.
Ismail Sabri said he had contested in Bera since 2004 and would still be contesting there for GE15.
“If you look at all the Umno candidates, we stay in the same place because we have provided the best service all this while. So, if we promise to provide any service they (voters) will believe us,” he said when met at a Malaysian Family event here yesterday.
Ismail Sabri was previously reported to have confirmed that he would be defending the Bera seat in GE15.
On Friday, PKR had announced the names of its candidates for GE15.
Earlier in his speech, Ismail Sabri said only a strong and stable government could prevent turmoil in an administration and allow it to focus on key tasks like reviving the economy.
He said there might be turmoil if the government formed was not sufficiently strong, resulting in the Prime Minister or mentri besar having to focus on political issues instead of doing what was needful for the people’s interests.
He cited the Barisan Nasional-led Pahang government under Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail as an example of a very stable administration which had achieved many feats, including generating revenue of more than RM1bil.
“In the early stages of my administration, we managed to make the political situation more stable but towards the end before I dissolved Parliament, the government was quite unstable. I was subjected to attacks not only from outside but also by presidents of parties in the government,” he said.
Ismail Sabri said it was thus important for Barisan to win as many seats in GE15 as possible so that it could govern on its own instead of having to depend on the support of other parties, unlike in 2018 when it only won 42 parliament seats.
“When someone threatened to press the button (to withdraw support), in the spirit of Mat Kilau, I pressed the button first and Parliament was dissolved on Oct 10.
“Our duty now is to form a new government capable of looking after the people’s interests.
“Although it was sad that we lost previously, it gave Malaysians an opportunity to assess which government is better.
“Under the Barisan administration, many good things were done and the economy was stable, but when Pakatan Harapan ruled for 22 months the people could see its misdeeds and the destruction it caused,” he said.
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