MELAKA: Perikatan Nasional newcomer Muhammad Ridzuan Mohd Sarif is banking on his grassroots campaign to give former chief minister Adly Zahari a tough fight in Bukit Katil.
The 42-year-old PAS candidate said the warm reception he received from voters so far in his first election campaign was encouraging.
He has been visiting night markets and housing estates across the constituency, including Taman Sin Hoe in Bukit Baru here, where he met Chinese and Indian voters.
"I may not get their full support, but I will keep reaching out to them," he said when met at Melaka PAS headquarters in Semabok on Tuesday (Nov 10).
Adly, who first won Bukit Katil in the 2018 general election and retained it in the 2021 state polls, is seeking a third term for Pakatan Harapan.
Also in the four-cornered contest are Parti Bersama Malaysia’s Dr Aliza Che Amran and independent candidate Abu Bakar Sabudin.
Ridzuan said Perikatan and Barisan Nasional campaign workers had been canvassing together from morning until late at night.
Part of their work, he said, was explaining to longtime Barisan supporters accustomed to voting for the dacing (scales) symbol that his name would appear on the ballot paper alongside Perikatan’s logo.
Ridzuan spent nearly two decades in the civil service, last serving as senior assistant director and chief environmental health officer at the state Health Department.
He said he had also been active in non-governmental organisations since his university days and had travelled nationwide as a social activist.
"I believe my experience in community work will be useful in serving my constituents," he said.
Ridzuan said flash floods and poorly maintained drains were the issues voters raised most often.
If elected, he said he would work with the relevant agencies to address both matters.
Bukit Katil was known as Bukit Baru before the Election Commission’s 2018 electoral boundary review.
PAS won its first Melaka state seat there in the 2013 general election through Dr Md Khalid Kassim.
Melaka voters will go to the polls on Saturday (Nov 14).
