MOHD Fadzli Mohd Ramly, Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) candidate for the Tioman state seat, is ready to make way for Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Mohd Johari Hussain, if directed to do so by the coalition’s top leadership.

Fadzli said the matter had been discussed at the PH presidential council taking into account the current political situation at the central government and Pahang assembly, but no decision had been made so far.

“Perhaps after this, there will be further talks on the Padang Serai (parliamentary seat) and the Tioman state seat because Padang Serai is important for us to increase our numbers in parliament. However, the Tioman state seat is no less important.

“So far, I have not been informed of any directive, especially from the presidential council about our position here. So we will conduct our campaign as usual,” he told Bernama.

The 15th general election results saw BN winning 16 seats in Pahang, one seat behind Perikatan Nasional (PN) while PH secured eight seats, which resulted in a hung assembly as no party or coalition obtained a simple majority of 22 seats.

Even though he is ready to make way, Fadzli wants the BN candidate to give assurance that he will solve the problems faced by Tioman folk, especially involving water, land and infrastructure.

However, Fadzli said that he has yet to meet Johari, who is the incumbent Tioman assemblyman, to discuss the matter.

Polling for the Tioman state seat was postponed following the death of PN candidate Md Yunus Ramli last Saturday.

Apart from Fadzli and Johari, other candidates vying for the Tioman state seat are PN’s Nor Idayu Hashim, Osman A. Bakar (Pejuang) and Sulaiman Bakar (Independent). – Bernama, November 26, 2022.