JOHOR BARU: Johor Amanah has been reminded of the support it received from Umno in two recent by-elections.
Johor Umno secretary Datuk Abdul Halim Suleiman said the party made way for Amanah to contest in the Pulai parliamentary and Simpang Jeram state by-elections even though the two were traditional Umno seats.
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“Umno could have claimed the two seats.
“Instead, we accepted their (Amanah's) candidates with an open heart and backed them up by providing campaign machinery that gave its fullest support to the two candidates, who won the elections,” he said in a statement on Facebook on Friday (Aug 16).
This was in response to Johor Amanah deputy president Dzulkefly Ahmad, who reportedly said parties from Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional are free to contest the Mahkota by-election as there is no unity government in the state.
Halim said Johor Amanah should respect Umno the same way his party respected it in earlier by-elections.
“This is especially so given that Johor Amanah... lacks members and party machinery and only relies on non-Malay votes, despite Mahkota being a Malay-majority area.
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"Is Johor Amanah planning to ride on Umno’s campaign machinery and seek votes from Umno supporters to win again? Just let Umno-Barisan contest in its traditional seat," he said.
He also claimed that Johor Amanah is playing the victim card.
"They should not be playing victim by claiming that they have been mistreated, sidelined and treated as the opposition.
"Throughout Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz's administration, all parties have received fair treatment, regardless of whether they are from Barisan or Pakatan," he said.
Dzulkefly reportedly said the principle of incumbency does not apply to the 56 state assembly seats in Johor because Pakatan is considered the opposition.
He said this was evident as there is not a single state executive councillor from Pakatan.
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On Aug 8, Barisan chairman and Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said parties under the unity government should exercise restraint when it comes to the candidate for the upcoming Mahkota state by-election.
"We must embody the spirit of the unity government and not demand this and that. Please respect that if a seat belongs to a particular party, the (current) formula is that the seat will be allocated to that incumbent party," he told a press conference.
Kluang Amanah division chief Dr Mohd Zuhan Mohd Zain had earlier demanded that the party be given a chance to contest the Mahkota seat.
The seat fell vacant when its assemblyman Datuk Sharifah Azizah Syed Zain, from Umno, passed away on Aug 2.
The Election Commission has set Sept 28 for the by-election, with nominations on Sept 14 and early voting on Sept 24.
