JOHOR BARU: Perikatan Nasional will not find it easy to gain a foothold in Johor through the Pulai parliamentary and Simpang Jeram state by-elections, says Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The Barisan Nasional chairman rubbished claims by Perikatan election director Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Noor that the by-elections would be a gateway for the coalition to gain a foothold in Johor.
Ahmad Zahid, who is also Umno president, however said he had no right to speak on someone else’s behalf.
“Ask him (Muhammad Sanusi) why he said that. I have no right to dispute someone’s sanity,” he said when met at the Pulai parliamentary by-election nomination centre at Dewan Jubli Intan Sultan Ibrahim here yesterday.
On Friday, a Malay daily quoted Muhammad Sanusi as saying that Johor was no longer a fortress for Umno and together with Pakatan Harapan, it would fail in the by-elections due to the “Perikatan wave”.
Ahmad Zahid said the compatibility between Pakatan and Barisan, especially in Pulai, was at a high level.
“For Pulai, I have strong confidence because its Umno division chief, Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed, has had a good relationship with our Pakatan colleagues for a long time.
“He has arranged a number of programmes to unite the machinery of both coalitions. In addition, the late Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub himself was also good to Umno members and supporters, so it is quite easy in Pulai,” he said.
The late Salahuddin was the previous Pulai MP and Simpang Jeram assemblyman. The by-elections are being held after he died from a brain haemorrhage.
Ahmad Zahid said he was confident that the Pulai by-election would be won by the unity government candidate because the Pakatan and Barisan candidates in the 15th General Election last November collectively got 94,000 votes, while Perikatan’s candidate only received about 20,000 votes.
“But the political landscape has changed, so we also need to change the layout of the campaign journey. We realise that this is a slippery climb, but in politics, it is not impossible,” he said.
Meanwhile, Perikatan secretary-general Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said Umno was suffering from “denial syndrome” because it could not accept that the people were no longer supporting the party.
He added that the recent elections in six states proved that, and Umno was still denying the facts and continuing with its delusion.
“They (Umno) called us ‘syok sendiri’ (self-indulgent) when we said the people were angry with them during the recent six state elections.
“But in reality, the people no longer have any interest in hearing what Umno wants to say, and they have chosen Perikatan because they see that it is the only coalition that can save and represent them,” he claimed.
