MUAR, Sept 2 — Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the voters of Simpang Jeram will suffer a loss if they did not select Pakatan Harapan candidate, Nazri Abdul Rahman in the by-election on Sept 9.
Ahmad Zahid who is also Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman said this is because Nazri had served as engineer in Muar Municipal Council and has been providing services to Muar residents including Simpang Jeram all this while.
“He has been serving the people all this while unlike another candidate, whom I will not touch about his personality. For the people of Simpang Jeram, Nazri is the obvious choice,” he said.
He told reporters after speaking at the Sentuhan Kasih Desa @ Simpang Jeram : Mini Expo on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programme and Village Entrepreneurship in Sungai Abong.
Also present were Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi and Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan dan Nazri.
Ahmad Zahid said Nazri is also seen as a candidate of calibre as he had completed his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) on floods to assist the people including about 40,000 registered voters in the area.
He said that political stability is one of the key factors to bring development to a constituency and it will in turn contribute stability at the state.
“If Nazri is elected, he will not only continue to strengthen the Unity Government at the constituency level and also at the Johor state level, the victory will certainly translate into strengthening the stability of the Johor state government,” he said.
The Pulai parliamentary and Simpang Jeram state by-elections were held following the unexpected vacancy following the death of incumbent Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub who was also the Minister of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living on July 23.
The by-election in both seats saw a three-way contest between PN, BN-PH and Independents, with Nazri facing PAS central committee member Dr Mohd Mazri Yahya of PN and Independent candidate, S. Jeganathan, a businessman in Simpang Jeram.
