PONTIAN: Claims by Umno leaders that only the party and PAS will protect the interests of the Malays and will act as their spokesmen are totally unfounded, according to Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate for the Tanjung Piai by-election Karmaine Sardini.
Karmaine, who is also Tanjung Piai Bersatu division chief, said PH including Bersatu had been playing the role through the central as well as the Johor state governments, in resolving problems faced by the Malays.
“Umno-PAS spokesman for the Malays? That’s not right. Bersatu too had been championing the rights of the Malays.
“If we look at it, Umno can’t even wrest the Tanjung Piai seat from the MCA, so how do you expect them to be the representative or voice of the Malays in solving existing problems,“ he told reporters when met at a programme for preschools, here today.
Karmaine was commenting on a statement by Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, who in his speech yesterday said it was important for the Barisan Nasional (BN) to win the Tanjung Piai by-election as this would enable Umno and PAS to act as spokesmen for the Malays.
When met by Bernama at the Teluk Kerang polling centre, Karmaine said the Umno-PAS coalition had talked much about the Malay struggle but BN, with Umno as the biggest party, did not field a Malay candidate in the by-election even though this is a Malay-majority area.
“In terms of benefitting the Malays, PH will be more favorable as the candidate is a Malay. In GE14, the candidate from the opposition coalition should have been from the DAP.
“However the DAP gave up the seat to Bersatu (in GE14 and this by-election) as over 50% of the voters here are Malays,“ he said.
Tanjung Piai parliamentary constituency has 52.986 voters, Malays comprise 56.88%, Chinese 41.52%, Indians (1%), Sabah Bumiputera (0.09%), Orang Asli (0.01%) and others (0.4%).
The Election Commission (EC) has set Nov 16 as polling day for the Tanjung Piai by-election and Nov 12 for early voting.
The polls will be a six-cornered fight between Karmaine Sardini, BN’s Datuk Seri Dr Wee Jeck Seng, Gerakan’s Wendy Subramaniam, Datuk Dr Badhrulhisham Abdul Aziz of Pan Malaysian Islamic Front (Berjasa) and two independent candidates – Faridah Aryani Abdul Ghaffar and Dr Ng Chuan Lock.
The seat fell vacant after its incumbent Datuk Dr Md Farid Md Rafik, 42, who was also Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, died on Sept 21 due to heart complications.
In the GE14, Dr Md Farid of PH won the seat after polling 21,255 votes to defeat Datuk Dr Wee Jeck Seng of Barisan Nasional (20,731 votes) and PAS candidate Nordin Othman (2,962 votes). — Bernama
