By-election: Suhaizan ready to continue Salahuddin's fight in Pulai

JOHOR BAHRU - Former Johor state legislative Speaker Suhaizan Kaiat is ready to step up as a Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) unity government candidate to contest in the Pulai parliamentary seat.

Suhaizan, who is also the state Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) vice-chairman said he was determined to utilise his expertise as a political secretary to the late Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub to continue helping the people of Pulai.

"I will do my best to repay the trust placed in me by the PH and Amanah leadership to run as a candidate for the Pulai seat.

“The Pulai Parliament is also close to my heart.

"This is not just because I am the Pulai Amanah chief, but when the late Salahuddin held the position (Pulai MP), I was the political secretary who organised all of the activities in the constituency and accompanied him every time.

"I also represented him in the areas where there were various complaints lodged by the community," he said today.

Suhaizan was named as PH’s candidate for the Pulai parliamentary seat today by Amanah president Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu.

Previously, Suhaizan had contested in the the Parit Sulong seat in 2004, Simpang Renggam seat (2013), Kukup state seat (2018) and Pulai Sebatang state seat (2022).

On Aug 8, it was reported that Suhaizan's name was on the list of potential candidates for the Pulai seat along with the late Salahuddin’s daughter, Siti Fatihah.

Suhaizan, who is also a former lecturer at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) said the Pulai constituency will focus on a variety of problems, including the concerns of the people in the People's Housing Projects (PPR).

“The constituency is located in the heart of Johor Bahru and there are four major PPR projects that require attention due to the large population in Kempas, Melana, Uda Utama and Perling.

"In addition, many housing issues, population settlements and infrastructure issues, particularly community issues such as parkings, elevators, roads and drainage system must be addressed," he said.

In the 15th General Election (GE15), Salahuddin successfully defended the Pulai parliamentary seat after gaining 64,900 votes.

He won by a majority of 33,174 votes against Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed (BN) who received 31,726 votes and Loh Kah Yong (Perikatan Nasional) who garnered 20,677 votes.

Salahuddin also successfully defended the Simpang Jeram state seat for the second time in the Johor state election last year, receiving 8,749 votes defeating PN candidate Zarul Salleh (6,350 votes), BN candidate Lokman Md Don (6,062) and Pejuang candidate Mahaizal Mahmor with 208 votes.

The Pulai PKR branch stated that it supported Suhaizan's candidacy in the by-election for the Pulai parliamentary seat set to take place on Sept 9.

The branch in statement said the decision to support Suhaizan was made following a meeting conducted by the branch’s head Jimmy Puah Wee Tse, on Friday.

“Pulai PKR welcomes the cooperation of all parties from the unity government in the Pulai constituency.

"In this spirit, we will mobilise all strength and energy for victory of the unity government candidate," the statement said.