JOHOR BAHRU - The claims by Perikatan Nasional (PN) that a wave tof support will be theirs in Johor following the Pulai by-election and the Simpang Jeram state election are simply empty words.
According to Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed PN's strengths do not lie in Johor.
He said the only place where PN is strong in Johor is in Pagoh which is held by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and the Mersing Parliament.
"Don’t be confused with the state elections in the north and the south. Those are simply PN’s words regarding their wave.
"Sanusi’s (Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor) words won’t sell in Johor. The public is moderate and not extreme about religious and racial issues,” he said.
Nur Jazlan was speaking in a press conference introducing the Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate for the Pulai by-election and the Simpang Jeram state election by Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) president Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu, here on Thursday.
Also present were three Amanah deputy presidents Adly Zahari, Datuk Mahfuz Omar and Datuk Seri Mujahid Yusof as well as Johor Amanah chairman Aminolhuda Hassan.
Also present were Johor DAP secretary Andrew Chen Kah Eng and PKR deputy chairman Jimmy Puah Wee Tse.
Johor Amanah deputy chairman Suhaizan Kaiat on Saturday was announced as the Pulai Parliamentary seat candidate while Amanah deputy chief Nazri Abdul Rahman was placed as the Simpang Renggam state seat candidate.
Nur Jazlan is also the Dewan Negara Deputy Speaker was confident that the combination of PH-BN majority votes in the by-election will increase.
"In GE15 on November last year, I received 31,726 votes while the late Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub obtained 64,900 votes and the PN candidate at the time garnered 20,667 votes.
"If my votes were combined with Salahuddin’s votes it would total to 96,000 votes. That’s why it is simply facts that PN must gain more votes to win,” he said.
Nur Jazlan who is also the Pulai Umno division chief said the Umno election machinery would be mobilised to aid the main campaigns in Malay majority areas like Tampoi and Kempas.
"Pulai Umno division had 18,000 members. We would work with PH to campaign and approach voters in the Pulai Parliament consisting of two state assembly areas of Kempas and Perling,” he said.