Pakatan strongholds in Penang can be breached, says BN candidate


Barisan Nasional candidate for the Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat, Mohd Zaidi Mohd Said is confident his coalition has succeeded in penetrating PH’s strongholds which has not been achieved so far. – Mohd Zaidi Mohd Said Facebook pic, November 9, 2022.

AFTER five days of campaigning, one candidate has made a bold claim that he can wrest a parliamentary seat in Penang, which is regarded as a Pakatan Harapan stronghold in the general election (GE).

The Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate for the Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat, Mohd Zaidi Mohd Said (Umno) said today that so far, the BN campaign has gone smoothly with the party machinery in high gear ready to win the hearts of the constituents. 

“The response as seen in my campaign series from morning to late night is so extraordinary. According to my experience in the previous by-elections and GEs, the people’s response this time is much more different.”

“BN in this GE campaign has succeeded in penetrating PH’s strongholds which we have not been able to do so far,” he claimed.

If given the mandate, he pledged a new primary school to resolve the density of students in Seberang Jaya, construction of public housing for the B40 group and new roads to avoid congestion.

Zaidi faces a four-cornered fight in Permatang Pauh against incumbent Nurul Izzah Anwar (PH-PKR), Muhammad Fawwaz Mat Jan (PN-PAS) and Mohd Nasir Othman (Pejuang-Putra).

In GE14, Nurul Izzah, who is also PKR vice president, won the seat with 35,534 votes. She defeated BN and PAS candidates with a majority of 15,668 votes.

At a separate press conference, Penang Parti Warisan coordinator Jeff Ooi Chuan Aun, who admitted that his party was competing as an ‘underdog’, said he was confident Warisan is capable of providng competition in GE15.

“We admit that we are ‘underdogs’ but through analysis carried out, the mood of voters in Penang is still difficult to predict, Chinese voters are hesitant to vote, Malay votes are divided into three, while Indian voters are still silent,’’ he said.

Ooi said what the people are asking for is that the new government elected must be more stable one and should be more forward-looking and not be bogged down by politicking. 

“We want to see some new members of parliament in Penang to be appointed through Warisan and to be given important roles,” he said.

He also did not rule out the possibility that Warisan will be the ‘kingmaker’ in this election if the party succeeds in garnering votes from the electorate in Sabah and Sarawak.

In GE15, Penang Warisan is staking four candidates, namely Ooi in the Bayan Baru parliamentary seat, Ong Chin Wen (Batu Kawan), Martin Lim (Jelutong) and Mohd Akmal Azhar (Tasek Gelugor). – Bernama, November 9, 2022.

 
 


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