KLUANG: A Perikatan Nasional MP claims that by-elections bring blessings to the people wherever they are held in the country.
Padang Serai MP Datuk Azman Nasruddin said that Malaysians should feel lucky when a by-election is held as many goodies would be given to them.
“When there is a by-election such as the Mahkota by-election, I will be very excited about it. There will be many ‘sweets’ given. Roads will be paved.
“Recently, our opponent handed out rice bags to the people here, which is a miracle because we cannot find local rice bags in the markets,” he added.
Azman said this in his speech during Perikatan’s first ceramah, which was held along Jalan Syed Abdul Hamid Sagaff on Saturday night (Sept 14).
He added that this was a blessing as the disruption in local rice supply to the market has been ongoing for over a year.
“Giving out goodies to the people when a by-election is being held is nothing new. It happened during the Nenggiri by-election last month, and it is happening now in Mahkota,” he said.
Azman also said that voters in the Mahkota constituency should use this by-election to support Perikatan’s candidate Mohamad Haizan Jaafar.
He added that if the voters decided to vote in favour of Mohamad Haizan, it would have little effect on the government, both at the state and federal level.
“Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will still be the Prime Minister while Johor Mentri Besar is still Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi. But voters here should use the by-election to send a signal to the government.
“There must be a clear signal coming from the people about their unhappiness on how the government is managing our economy, which is affecting everyone,” he added.
The upcoming Mahkota state seat by-election will be a straight contest between Barisan Nasional and Perikatan.
Returning officer Azurawati Wahid confirmed the receipt of nomination papers from both Barisan’s candidate Syed Hussien Syed Abdullah and Mohamad Haizan on Saturday.
Syed Hussien, who also serves as the Kluang Umno Youth chief, aims to retain Barisan's seat, while Perikatan is fielding 61-year-old Mohamad Haizan, a former Johor FA footballer.
The Mahkota seat became vacant following the death of its assemblyman, Datuk Sharifah Azizah Syed Zain, 63, on Aug 2.
According to the Election Commission (EC), the electoral roll for the by-election includes 66,318 voters, consisting of 61,397 ordinary voters, 401 police personnel, 4,510 military personnel and their spouses, and 10 absentee voters abroad.
Early voting is scheduled for Sept 24, involving three centres with 11 stations. The main polling day on Sept 28 will see 20 centres and 109 voting stations in operation.
