Razali to compete against Muhyiddin in Pagoh

SHAH ALAM - Umno Supreme Council (MKT) Member Datuk Seri Razali Ibrahim is set to compete against Perikatan Nasional (PN) Chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in Pagoh Parliament at the 15th General Election (GE15).

A source said the leadership of the party had agreed to transfer him from the Muar Parliament which he had won for three terms – GE11, GE12 and GE13.

Despite maintaining his position in Muar for three terms, Razali lost the seat in GE14 to Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman who now represented the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda).

It was understood that the selection of Razali as a candidate would have brought one big challenge for Muhyiddin to defend the Pagoh seat.

For the record, Muhyiddin successfully gained 23,558 votes to defeat BN candidate Ismail Mohamed and Pas candidate Ahmad Nawfal Mahfodz.

Muhyiddin had not only become the Deputy Prime Minister during the BN administration but rose as Prime Minister when the PH government fell on February 2020.

The source added Razali, also the Muar Umno Division Chief who had been elected as Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, Youth and Sports Deputy Minister as well as Education Deputy Minister were prepared to bear the challenges.

Previously Umno had begun the steps to transfer Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar and replaced him with Datuk Seri Mohammad Hassan who is current the Umno Deputy President.

However, it was still unknown which seat would be contested by the Health Minister.

It was possible that Khairy would continue to be trusted in to contest at a Parliament level due to his records as a cabinet minister.