[UPDATED] Melaka polls: Idris tangled in 6-cornered battle for Asahan seat

MELAKA – Former chief minister and ex-Umno veteran Datuk Seri Idris Haron will be facing five opponents in the highly sought-after Asahan seat.

In a surprise turn of events, three independent candidates made their appearances at the nomination centre here today.

They join Barisan Nasional’s (BN) Fairul Nizam Roslan and Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) Dhanesh Basil, both of whom had already been announced by their respective coalitions as their choice of candidates.

The first independent candidate, armed forces veteran Mohd Akhir Ayob, arrived at the Asahan nomination centre at the Kolej Komunity Selandar hall here today at 8.10am.

Independent candidate from Nyalas, Azhar Abd Hamid, arrived at 9:09am, and Mohd Noor Salleh from Simpang Kerayong turned up at 9.15am.

Idris was formerly Melaka chief minister from 2013 to 2018.

His move last month to withdraw support for then Melaka chief minister Datuk Seri Sulaiman Md Ali, along with three other state reps, was instrumental in paving the way for the state assembly to be dissolved and the current election, set for November 20, to be called.

The other three reps were Pantai Kundor’s Datuk Nor Azman Hassan (formerly of Umno), Telok Mas’ Datuk Noor Effandi Ahmad (formerly of Bersatu) and Pengkalan Batu’s Datuk Norhizam Hassan Baktee (who was an independent). All four citied a loss of confidence in Sulaiman’s handling of the Melaka government.

Meanwhile, Idris, who is now contesting under the Pakatan Harapan (PH) banner, is of view that the six-cornered fight in Asahan is a sign of mature democracy.

“When we see that there are six candidates in Asahan, it means that democracy is fertile like its land,” he said, referring to the constituency’s many agricultural lands.

“I also want to improve Asahan into an agro-based industrial area,” he added.

Asked if he would offer support to Bukit Katil incumbent Adly Zahari as the next chief minister, Idris said this is not the main agenda of the election.

“In this election, we did not field anyone, be it me or Adly (as the chief minister).

“Idris Haron is not important,” he added rhetorically. “What’s more important is what we are able to offer to the people of Melaka.

“I’m not bothered about who (will be the chief minister), what’s important is we can cross the bridge and succeed in forming a government. Only then we will figure out who will be the chief minister,” said Idris who was Sg Kundor rep until the state assembly was dissolved last month.

For the record, in the last general election in May 2018, Umno’s Datuk Seri Abdul Ghafar Atan (garnering 5,942 votes) won the Asahan seat with a majority of 275 votes in a three-cornered fight with Bersatu’s Zamzuri Arifin (5,667) and PAS’ Azlan Maddin (1,365). – The Vibes, November 8, 2021