KEDAH executive council member Datuk Wan Romani Wan Salim has poured cold water on Kedah Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman Datuk Mahfuz Omar’s claims that the coalition together with its ally Barisan Nasional (BN) will be guaranteed to win 16 of the 36 state seats in the Aug 12 state election.
In an Utusan Malaysia report, Wan Romani said if Mahfuz’s estimation of a 16-seat win is based on the results of the 15th general election (GE15), his estimations and calculations are erroneous.
“If PH said there is a ‘guarantee’ of a 16-seat win in the state, I would like them to tell me where,” the PAS lawmaker told the Malay daily in an interview.
Wan Romani stressed that Mahfuz had clearly overlooked the majority victory recorded by a Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidate in a particular parliamentary constituency in Kedah, which saw the candidate garnering tens of thousands of votes during GE15.
As such, based on the current wave of support shown by the people and the census conducted at various levels, Wan Romani expressed confidence that PN will dominate the state legislative assembly in Kedah in the forthcoming state polls.
“Census has indicated that PN can achieve the target as stated by caretaker Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor of winning 33 out of 36 seats in the state,” he remarked.
“If PH leaders claim that they are able to win Kedah due to its cooperation with BN, I think their claim is baseless.”
Yesterday (July 10) Mahfuz, in expressing confidence that the PH-BN will be guaranteed to win 16 of the 36 state seats in Kedah, was reported as saying that this “guarantee” is based on figures and statistics and is a “realistic number”.
He said this means the coalition would only need to win three more seats for the majority required to form the state government.
Meanwhile, Wan Romani suggested that PH and BN need to be grounded in reality as what they are saying is nothing more than a “provocation” against PN, adding that he is confident that Kedahans will make a wise choice.
He said the federal government does not seem to care for Kedah if issues such as the construction of the Kulim International Airport (KXP) is of any indication, which will only leave people feeling disgusted by the Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim-led government and thus shifting their support to PN as a “lesson” to the government.
“Surely the people must be wondering why the Prime Minister had refused to meet the Menteri Besar (to discuss the KXP issue) when all procedures including letters requesting a meeting to brief Anwar about KXP had been adhered to,” Wan Romani said.
“The fact is that we already have a clear direction to develop Kedah but we have been obstructed by certain quarters. All this will be taken into account when the people cast their ballots during the state polls.” – July 11, 2023
Main pic credit: Facebook/Wan Romani Wan Salim
