PKR candidate Negri Sembilan caretaker Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Aminuddin Harun (Port Dickson). PKR announcing their GE15 candidates at Padang MPAJ on Friday night. - IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star
SEREMBAN: Negri Sembilan caretaker Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Aminuddin Harun, who is Pakatan Harapan’s candidate for Port Dickson, has pledged not to use any government machinery during the campaigning period for the Nov 19 polls.
He said he would also not be attending any official functions and would be on leave from nomination day on Nov 5.
“I will not attend any official events during the period. In fact, I won’t even be using my official car or my driver,” he told reporters after the state exco meeting at Wisma Negri.
Asked who would be driving him around, Aminuddin, on a lighter note, said he might have to pay a friend to do so.
He also ruled out using police outriders.
“But I may have to use the services of a bodyguard, or the state police chief may have to answer for it. Since I am MB, I have to use the bodyguard for security reasons,” he said.
Aminuddin, who is the state PKR chief, said he would only attend the state exco meeting during the campaigning period.
This, he said, was to ensure there were no delays to matters discussed by the state administration.
Aminuddin is now in his third term as Sikamat assemblyman.
Asked if he was confident of winning in Port Dickson, Aminuddin said he was, but this would also depend on first-time voters, who make up slightly more than 25% of the new voters.
“Since I am from PD, I am also hoping that my orang kampung will vote for me,” he said.
In a 2018 by-election, PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim won the seat with a 23,560-vote majority in a multi-cornered fight, surpassing the 17,710-vote majority obtained by Datuk Danyal Balagopal during GE14.
PKR had also won the seat in the 2008 and 2013 polls.
On a separate matter, Aminuddin said the state government was looking at ways to help undergraduates return to the state to vote.
“Voting is a constitutional right, and we should help these first-time voters come back to do so.
“We may liaise with the respective state associations and see how we can help,” he added.
