On the ground: Mohamad Haizan visiting a futsal court here. — THOMAS YONG/The Star
KLUANG: Both Perikatan Nasional and Barisan Nasional have denied that there are cracks within their respective coalitions due to the Mahkota by-election.
For Perikatan, Bersatu candidate Mohamad Haizan Jaafar said the allegation that PAS is boycotting the by-election was a “straight-up lie”.
He said members of PAS machinery has been helping him throughout his campaigning programmes and there has never been an attempt from the Islamist party to stage a boycott.
“Who says PAS did not help? Their members have been helping us with the campaign all this while.
“They have sent their election machinery from other states, party division members and even those from the national level are here to help.
“To accuse PAS of not helping me is a complete lie. In fact, I just had a meeting with their campaigners from Terengganu just now,” he said at a press conference after visiting a futsal field here yesterday.
He was asked about claims that have been circulating during the by-election that PAS is boycotting the Mahkota by-election.
Mohamad Haizan also said other parties under Perikatan, including the Malaysian Indian People Party (MIPP), which joined the coalition a couple of months ago, is helping out in his campaigning.
Johor PAS had reportedly submitted six names of potential candidates for Mahkota to Perikatan’s leadership before Mohamad Haizan was announced as the candidate.
On a separate matter, the 61- year-old Mohamad Haizan confirmed that his wife is unwell and getting medical attention in a hospital.
“She has a lung infection and has been in the hospital for about 16 days. She is now stable and recovering.
“Despite her health situation, my wife continues to be supportive of me and my campaign,” he said.
For Barisan, Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Noraini Ahmad also denied allegations of cracks within the coalition following the decision to pick a candidate from its youth wing to defend the Mahkota seat.
“There is no such thing. Wanita Umno has been working hard to help our candidate win, including deploying members to join the by-election machinery from the central leadership and other states,” she said.
She was responding to allegations of cracks within Barisan following the announcement of the candidate.
She said this in a press conference after visiting 78-year-old Mat Jaafar, who is the former treasurer of Umno’s Ilham Dato Amar branch.
Asked whether Wanita Umno was disappointed for not being able to defend the seat left by the late Sharifah Azizah, who was the wing’s Kluang division chief, Noraini said that the wing accepted the leadership’s decision.
“We will work hard to ensure that the candidate selected wins the election,” she said.
Before Barisan announced its candidate for the by-election early this month, talk was rife that the Kluang Umno division’s Wanita wing vice-chief, Zainani Jamaluddin, was among names that emerged as frontrunners to defend the seat.
The Mahkota state seat became vacant when its assemblyman, Sharifah Azizah Syed Zain, passed away on Aug 2, three days after she was hospitalised.
Sharifah Azizah won the seat in the March 2022 Johor state election by a 5,166-winning majority, beating three other candidates from Perikatan, Pakatan and Parti Warisan.
In the 14th General Election in 2018, PAS contested against Parti Amanah Nasional, which was then an ally of Bersatu under Pakatan Harapan.
Polling for the by-election has been set for Sept 28, with early voting on Sept 24.
