State polls: Groundwork helped us wrest Labu, says new Perikatan rep

PORT DICKSON: It was the groundwork that began years ago that helped Perikatan Nasional wrest Labu in Negri Sembilan, says Bersatu’s Mohamad Hanifah Abu Baker.

Mohamad Hanifah, who won the Labu seat in the just-concluded state polls on Saturday (Aug 12), said his win was no surprise seeing how work had been done since 2020.

“I’ve been active and helping the community here since 2020, especially when Covid-19 was rampant. It’s no surprise that we won the Labu seat, but I knew we had to work hard to do it,” he told a press conference on Saturday night.

The Rasah Bersatu chief said Perikatan also received additional support from both senior and young voters.

“This win is a good step moving forward. We have seats in the state assembly, which shows that Perikatan is accepted in Negri Sembilan,” he added.

Mohamad Hanifah beat Pakatan Harapan’s Ismail Ahmad with a 1,640-vote majority.

He received 11,661 votes while Ismail garnered 10,021 votes.

Meanwhile, Bagan Pinang’s newly-elected Perikatan assemblyman Abdul Fatah Zakaria attributed his victory to those involved in the early voting process.

Abdul Fatah said he received the overwhelming majority of the military vote in his match up against Barisan Nasional’s Mohd Najib Mohd Isa.

Mohd Najib is the son of former Negri Sembilan mentri besar Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad.

“I am a former soldier and my relationship with the military may have helped. I also won voting streams from military housing areas,” Abdul Fatah told the same press conference.

Abdul Fatah said that one-third of the 10,921 total votes he received were from the early voters.

On his plans now that he is the Bagan Pinang assemblyman, Abdul Fatah said he would emphasise on local traders in the area.

“We may not form the state government but we will do our best.There are retired military personnel who have skills to promote small and medium enterprises. We will do what we can,” he added.

Separately, Perikatan’s Paroi candidate Kamarol Ridzuan Mohd Zin said it was effective cooperation among the coalition’s machinery that led to unseating Pakatan Harapan’s hold on the seat.

He added that road issues would be among the aspects focused on by him as the assemblyman.

“During our walkabouts, there were woes on the constant jams as well as limited entry and exit routes here. We will discuss this with town planners,” he said.

Kamarol won the Paroi state seat with 23,840 votes against Pakatan’s 18,301 votes.

The coalition won five state seats in Negri Sembilan during the state polls; Labu, Bagan Pinang, Paroi, Serting and Gemas.