ALOR SETAR: Expect a tough fight for the Jerai parliamentary seat, says Umno’s Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom.
The Kedah Barisan Nasional chairman said the tussle for the constituency will be intense as the Opposition has fielded a Malay candidate in the hot seat.
"Normally when DAP fields a Malay candidate in the Malay dominated area, they won’t get so much support.
"But this time, the candidate is not only Malay, but also a local," he said during at a press conference at the state Umno headquarters on Thursday (Nov 3).
He said it was hard to gauge the competition based on the massive number of voters in Jerai but Barisan is banking on its past track records, and believed the coalition can recapture the seat.
Jerai will see Jamil Khir facing off DAP candidate Zulhazmi Shariff, incumbent PAS candidate Sabri Azit and newcomer Mohd Nizam Mahshar from Pejuang in a four-cornered fight in GE15.
The Jerai seat also saw a controversial episode when state Parti Amanah Negara chairman Datuk Phahrolrazi Mohd Zawawi was sacked from the party after speaking out against DAP for insisting on contesting the Malay-majority Jerai parliamentary seat.
It was reported that the Alor Mengkudu assemblyman had wanted the seat for Amanah but due to the Pakatan seat-swapping arrangement with DAP, Jerai has been given to DAP while Amanah will instead contest in Melaka's Alor Gajah.
In GE13, Jamil Khir who is Kedah Umno chairman, won the seat with 1,196 majority but lost it to PAS' candidate Sabri in 2018 with just 539 votes.
"In the last general election, we had no experience in facing more than one opponent but now, GE14 can be made as our benchmark to gauge our performance," he said.
Earlier, Jamil Khir launched the event to present candidacy letters to Barisan candidates at the state Umno headquarters.
