Pulai polls: ‘Haram’ to vote for PH candidate, says Muhyiddin

Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, the chairman of Perikatan Nasional, has jokingly declared it “haram” or sinful to vote for Suhaizan Kayat, the Pakatan Harapan candidate for the Pulai parliamentary seat. Muhyiddin made this statement during a Perikatan ceramah in Taman Kempas, which elicited laughter from the crowd. He added that if Pakatan wins the Pulai seat in the upcoming by-election, it would help the Unity Government maintain its two-thirds majority in the Dewan Rakyat. Muhyiddin claimed that this majority would make it easier for the government to make constitutional amendments, including the redelineation of electoral boundaries. He suggested that the government might add 78 seats to the current 222-seat Parliament, with the new seats potentially being allocated to urban and densely populated areas supportive of their party. Muhyiddin emphasized that this issue was not about race, but rather about the geo-political dynamics in these areas. He further argued that redelineation could lead to gerrymandering, where constituencies unsupportive of the government are broken up and additional seats are added to areas that support them, in turn giving more power to other parties in future elections.

It was previously reported that the Election Commission would next be able to conduct a redelineation exercise in Sarawak in 2023, Sabah in 2025, and states in the peninsula in 2026. Muhyiddin also criticized the present government for allegedly neglecting the Malay struggle, claiming that they have lost the authority to govern because the Malays, who constitute the majority, are now in the Opposition. He characterized the situation as difficult and dangerous. The Pulai parliamentary seat and Simpang Jeram state seat are currently vacant due to the death of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub, who previously held these positions. In the by-election, Suhaizan from Pakatan is competing against Zulkifli Jaafar from Perikatan and Independent candidate Samsudin Mohamad Fauzi. The Pulai seat is ethnically diverse, with Malays comprising 44.18% of registered voters, followed by the Chinese (40.46%), Indians (12.31%), and other ethnicities (3.06%). In the 15th General Election held in November last year, Salahuddin successfully defended the seat and won by a majority of 33,174 votes.