KULIM – Since pulling out of the Padang Serai race, Warisan will be helping Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate Mohamad Sofee Razak to campaign for the parliamentary election.
This is after Warisan became part of the federal unity government, which is led by PH chairman and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Kedah Warisan chairman Datuk Fadhil Hanafi said in a press conference that he has instructed the party machinery to help Sofee as a PH victory in Padang Serai will be a nice welcome for the national administration.
It is learnt that Barisan Nasional (BN) is mulling over withdrawing but candidate Datuk C. Sivarraajh has indicated that there is no official statement from the coalition.
On November 24, Warisan decided to not participate in the Padang Serai federal constituency.
The party’s secretary-general Datuk Loretto Padua Jr had said the Election Commission (EC) has been informed about the decision today.
“However, the Warisan logo will still be listed in the ballot paper as the party is registered as one of the parties contesting for the Padang Serai parliamentary seat.”
If Warisan and BN pull out, the contest will pit Sofee against Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) Datuk Azman Nasrudin and independent candidate Sreadnandha Rao.
In a press conference earlier today, Azman said it would be better if both PH and BN pulled out of the election to avoid confusing the voters.
Azman said both parties should withdraw since PH and BN have different ideologies despite being in a unity government.
“If they cannot decide among themselves, then give it to PN. Our principles are firm.”
Azman is a state executive councillor and also a former Kedah PKR leader, who joined Bersatu in 2020 after the PH state government fell to PAS.
Last night during a campaign round, Arau MP Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, who contested under the PN ticket, said he was campaigning here on the grounds of forming a Malay unity government rather than a national one.
“If the Malays are united, the Chinese and Indians can also follow suit. Right now, everybody is unsure due to the political uncertainty of a national unity government.”
He said that his campaign strategy of “perpaduan ummah” (Muslim unity) worked in Perlis.
The ballot was scheduled to take place during the general election that was held on November 19, but it was deferred due to the death of Pakatan Harapan candidate M. Karupaiya three days before the date.
The EC has set December 7 as the polling day for both Padang Serai and also the Tioman state seat in Pahang.
The election for the Tioman state constituency was postponed as Md Yunus Ramli, the PN candidate, had died in the pre-dawn hours of polling day.
In last Saturday’s general election, Warisan lost all 26 seats it contested in the peninsula, while managing to win only three federal constituencies in Sabah – a far cry from the eight the party won in the previous election.
The party had contested all 25 parliamentary seats in Sabah and the sole one in Labuan. – The Vibes, December 1, 2022
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