The winning formula: Muhyiddin announcing the party’s candidates for Pulai, Zulkifli (right) and Dr Mohd Mazri for the Simpang Jeram seat. — THOMAS YONG/The Star
JOHOR BARU: Buoyed by the results of the recent six state elections, Perikatan Nasional is now confident of capturing the Pulai parliamentary and Simpang Jeram state seats.
The coalition believes the wave that swept it to power in three states, while delivering a blow to Pakatan Harapan-Barisan Nasional in another three, will spread to Johor.
Perikatan chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who named the candidates for the two seats yesterday, said the state elections showed “the people’s dissatisfaction towards the government”.
“This wave ... we do not need to give it a colour. But we hope it will continue south into Johor,” he said of what has been termed by many as the green wave.
He named 50-year-old businessman Zulkifli Jaafar as Perikatan’s candidate for the Pulai parliamentary seat.
Zulkifli, the Pulai Bersatu deputy chief, is also an ex-Umno member.
For the Simpang Jeram state seat, 61-year-old vascular surgeon Dr Mohd Mazri Yahya from PAS will be fielded.
Dr Mohd Mazri had stood in the two seats in 2018 but lost to Amanah’s Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub. Salahuddin retained the seats in 2022 but he died on July 23.
The 61-year-old, who was the Pulai MP and Simpang Jeram assemblyman, also served as the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister.
As both are mixed seats, Muhyiddin said: “If 90% of Malays head out to vote and support Perikatan, we will win.”
In the six state elections, Perikatan won 147 of the 245 seats it contested.
Muhyiddin said Perikatan’s message would be that its candidates are capable and corruption-free.
“The main thing that needs to be tackled is poverty. Our commitment is to help the poor,” he added.
On Aug 19, Amanah president Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu announced that former Johor state assembly speaker Suhaizan Kaiat, 50, is set to contest in Pulai while Bakri Amanah deputy chief Nazri Abdul Rahman, 56, will contest the Simpang Jeram seat.
The Pulai parliamentary seat has 166,653 registered voters while Simpang Jeram state has 40,488.
