Pakatan Harapan hoping for at least a 70% voter turnout in Johor

JOHOR BARU: The candidate for the Pakatan Harapan party, Suhaizan Kayat, believes that a voter turnout of at least 70% will increase the chances of retaining the Pulai seat in the upcoming by-election. He mentioned that the main challenge for Pakatan is to achieve a high voter turnout as it is typically low in by-elections. Suhaizan expressed his worry regarding the difficulty in securing the seat if the voter turnout is low. He hopes to see a turnout of at least 70% since in the previous general election in November 2022, the voter turnout for the Pulai seat was at 71%.

Suhaizan stated that various component parties under Pakatan and Barisan Nasional will be assisting in encouraging more people to come out and vote. He mentioned that Pakatan will focus on the Perling area while Umno will help in the Kempas area. Suhaizan expressed gratitude for the assistance of Umno, which has about 18,000 supporters in Pulai, with a majority of them in Kempas. He also mentioned that the Pulai Umno division chief, Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed, has given his full support as well. When asked about Perikatan Nasional’s candidate for the seat, Suhaizan stated that he hopes for a healthy competition and emphasized the importance of respect among all candidates during the democratic process.

Earlier, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, the chairman of Perikatan, announced businessman Zulkifli Jaafar as their candidate for the Pulai seat. Zulkifli is the deputy Pulai division chief of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia. The by-elections for the Pulai parliamentary and Simpang Jeram state seats were called following the passing of Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub, who held both seats. The nomination has been set for August 26, with polling on September 9, and early voting on September 5. Salahuddin, the Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) deputy president and Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister, passed away on July 23 due to a brain haemorrhage at the age of 61.