PENANG Deputy Chief Minister I Mohd Rashid Hasnon will be joining Pakatan Harapan’s fight to win Johor in the coming general election.

The Muar-born PKR politician, who has held the number two post in the Penang government since 2013, will be among the “giants” PH will field in an attempt to take over the southern state.

This means Rashid, who is Penang PKR vice-chairman and Pantai Jerejak assemblyman in the PKR-dominated Bayan Baru parliamentary constituency, will leave his safe seat for uncharted waters.

Rashid said he was confident PH could win Malay support in Johor with the setting-up of Bersatu, led by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Muhyiddin Yassin, who was once menteri besar of the state.

“With Bersatu getting help from PKR and Amanah, I think we can put up a strong fight.

“I can see that PH will very likely dominate the Dewan Rakyat seats. To win states from Barisan Nasional, we will have to work harder,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

A PKR source in Johor had told The Malaysian Insight that Rashid would be fielded for a state seat PH had a high chance of winning, but Rashid would not speculate on the matter when asked.

“Seats are up to the party to decide,” the soft-spoken politician said.

Bersatu is leading the PH assault in Johor with PKR, Amanah and DAP’s help. Of the total 56 state seats, Bersatu will contest 18, while DAP, 14. Amanah and PKR will each take on 12.

As for the parliamentary seats, Bersatu will contest 10, PKR eight, DAP six, and Amanah two.

The Malaysian Insight recently reported that Muhyiddin would mostly likely defend Pagoh and contest a state seat to put up a strong challenge against BN in Johor, which is considered an Umno stronghold.

Youth are the pillar of change

Rashid, who has experience in non-governmental organisation Jamaah Islah Malaysia, now known as Ikram, said youth in Johor were ready for change.

“With that kind of mood, I am sure PH can make it. I have spoken with several student leaders from universities in Johor. They all want change.

“The older generation, especially in the oil palm estates of Felda, are harder to convince. We hope their children can convince them,” he said.

Although he has not been living and working in Johor since the last general election, Rashid said he never forgot his home state.

He said he had been moving around Johor in the last two to three years, seeing good potential for the opposition.

“In Muar, where I went to secondary school, PKR lost by a small margin in the last polls. Just like the Ledang parliamentary seat, my hometown.”

In the 2013 election, BN’s Razali Ibrahim beat PKR’s Nor Hizwan Ahmad for the Muar seat with a slim majority of 1,646 votes.

In Ledang, BN’s Hamim Samuri won by a 1,967 vote majority against PKR’s Hassan Abdul Karim.

Apart from PKR and Bersatu, DAP is also working hard to make Johor its main battleground in the coming polls.

The party recently announced that Damansara Utama assemblyman Yeo Bee Yin would return to her home state of Johor to contest the Bakri parliamentary seat.

Johor DAP chief Liew Chin Tong is also leaving his parliamentary seat in Kluang to contest against MCA deputy president Dr Wee Ka Siong in the BN-held Ayer Hitam.

It is common for DAP to take strong representatives out of their present constituencies to field them in BN-held areas in hopes of winning new seats.

In the 2013 polls, Liew was moved from Bukit Bendera in Penang to Kluang, while Teo Nie Ching was moved from Serdang to Kulai. Both managed to unseat the incumbent BN MPs in those seats.

Amanah is also expected to field its deputy president, Salahuddin Ayub, for both state and parliamentary seats in the coming polls. – March 28, 2018.