Mohd Rashid said to be in the running to contest Pulai for Perikatan

JOHOR BARU: Talk is rife that former Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker Datuk Mohd Rashid Hasnon is among the names that have been shortlisted to contest the Pulai parliamentary seat under the Perikatan Nasional ticket.

According to a source, the other two names are Johor Perikatan vice-chairman Mohd Solihan Badri and former Tekun Nasional deputy president Najwah Halimah Ab Alim.

All three are members of Bersatu, a Perikatan component party together with PAS, Gerakan and Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP).

“For now, those are the names but we will have to wait for the final announcement.

“The decision will be made by the coalition central leadership,” said a local Perikatan leader.

Mohd Rashid, who was previously the Batu Pahat MP, failed to defend his seat in last year’s 15th General Election (GE15) after garnering only 29,230 votes against Pakatan Harapan’s Onn Abu Bakar, who got 45,242.

Mohd Solihan, a former state executive councillor and Tenang assemblyman, contested the Gambir seat in the state election last year but lost to Barisan Nasional’s Sahrihan Jani.

Najwah Halimah made her debut in GE15 when she contested the Tanjung Piai parliamentary seat and lost to Barisan’s Datuk Seri Dr Wee Jeck Seng.

The source added that in Simpang Jeram, Zarul Salleh of PAS is expected to contest the seat for the second time.

In the last Johor state polls, Zarul was in a four-cornered fight for the seat and received 6,350 votes. He lost to the late Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub who garnered 8,749 votes.

When asked about the PAS candidate for the Simpang Jeram seat, the party’s state commissioner Abdullah Husin said it will be “someone who is well known by the people and has served the party for quite some time”.

“So he is not too old and not that young either,” he said.

Perikatan chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is expected to announce both candidates in Kempas here today.

The Election Commission (EC) has set nomination day for the Simpang Jeram state seat and Pulai parliamentary seat by-elections for Aug 26, with early voting on Sept 5 and polling on Sept 9.

Salahuddin, the elected representative from Amanah for both seats, died on July 23 due to a brain haemorrhage aged 61.

Amanah has announced that former Johor state assembly speaker Suhaizan Kaiat will contest in Pulai while the party’s Bakri deputy chief Nazri Abdul Rahman will stand in Simpang Jeram.

Meanwhile, local leaders in Johor feel that the EC should be given ample time to prepare for the Pelangai by-election in Pahang.

They said that while having the election concurrently with the Johor by-elections may incur less cost, there are many other things that need to be taken into consideration.

Johor Barisan Youth chief Noor Azleen Ambros said the EC should not be rushed into having the Pelangai by-election to fit the timeline of the by-elections in Johor.“I do not think that the EC will have enough time to prepare if the Pelangai by-election is to run concurrently with the two by-elections in Johor.

“The EC has to make a lot of preparations to ensure that the by-election runs smoothly.

“Among other things, they also have to appoint returning officers for each polling district.

“To be fair to them, ample time should be given,” he said.

Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Abdul Karim said he understands that the public may want the three by-elections to run concurrently as this is seen as a more cost-effective move.

“That may be ideal, but we need to bear in mind that there are laws and regulations in place that the EC has to follow, apart from logistics and administrative considerations,” he said.

The EC is scheduled to hold a special meeting tomorrow to set key dates for the Pelangai by- election.

The seat fell vacant after its incumbent, Datuk Seri Johari Harun, was among the 10 who perished in a plane crash near the Elmina township in Shah Alam on Aug 17.