A SECULAR-MINDED retired DAP supremo Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang has rallied voters of the Pulai and Simpang Jeram by-elections on Sept 9 to ensure that Johor must refrain from joining the rank of Kelantan whose GDP (gross domestic product) per capita has dropped to less than one third of Malaysian average after over three decades under the PAS government.
But will that economic concern appeal to ordinary folks in the Pulai parliamentary and Simpang Jeram state constituencies amid rife speculation that PAS will most likely inflict defeat on the incumbent Pakatan Harapan (PH) especially in the contest for the state seat?
This sense of uncertainty comes as researcher Associate Prof Dr Mazlan Ali from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) has predicted a form of rejection among Malay voters against the unity government stemming from their dissatisfaction with the current economic situation.
Concurring with Mazlan, Ilham Center executive director Hisomuddin Bakar has described PH’s position in Simpang Jeram as being “quite critical” with the coalition potentially losing the seat based on the voter trend of the 18 to 25 age group towards Perikatan Nasional (PN).
Hisomuddin has contended that such rejection stemmed from the appointment of individuals implicated with corruption as national leaders in addition to the failure of the unity government did to win the hearts of young voters.
Apart from the observations by Mazlan and Hisomuddin, former senior lecturer in the Creative Technology and Heritage Faculty at Universiti Malaysia Kelantan Mukhtaruddin Musa has earmarked a further eight reasons why PAS candidate Dr Mohd. Mazri Yahya is able to inflict a surprise blow on his Amanah counterpart Nazri Abdul Rahman in Simpang Jeram.
Reason #1: Nothing worrisome for voters to make changes in Simpang Jeram because the integrity of the Johor State Government is still intact with a more than two-third majority. The two-third majority cut-off for the Johor State Assembly is 37, of which the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) administration controls 40 out of 56 seats.
Reason #2: The need to defend PH does not exist in Johor. All that exists is the BN government.
Reason #3: The BN-rule Johor state government is lacks a balance check function as there are only four so-called opposition state assemblymen – three from PN and one from MUDA. Therefore, it makes valid sense if the opposition representatives in the Johor state assembly is added.
Reason #4: PAS won in Simpang Jeram (previously Sungai Abong) during the 12th General Election (GE12) on March 8, 2008 and the 13th General Election (GE13) on April 10, 2013 through its candidate Dr Sheikh Ibrahim Salleh who is a doctor medicine.
Reason #5: PAS candidate Dr Mohd. Mazri is a high performing medical specialist in the field of general, vascular and endovascular surgery.
His extensive experience of more than 20 years in the field of blood vessel surgery and fistula site formation has placed him as a leading expert in the field in Malaysia as well as allowing him to publish the book Hemodialysis & Fistula Site Care. If given the space, he is able to contribute to the medical field in Johor and Malaysia.
Reason #6: Dr Mohd. Mazri has never lobbied to be a candidate in any election. His agreement to be a candidate is solely because of his love in serving the community as he has shown thus far, including what can be witnessed through his voluntary service (pro bono) at the government hospital.
Reason #7: A victory for Dr Mohd. Mazri is something good for Johorians as a whole because it will remind the Johor state government on the need to make every BN and PH state assemblymen work harder in providing services and taking care of the people’s welfare.
Reason #8: Dr Mohd. Mazri also has an interesting personality and high leadership talent. He is a clean person in the sense that he does not have any issues or controversies that may cast doubts about him both in terms of his practice and speech. He is also well-liked by non-Malay/non-Muslim voters. – Sept 1, 2023
