JOHOR BARU: Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has criticized Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, the chairman of Perikatan Nasional, for declaring that voting for Suhaizan Kayat, Pakatan Harapan’s candidate for the Pulai parliamentary seat, is “haram” or sinful.
The Deputy Prime Minister, who is also the president of Umno and the chairman of Barisan Nasional, condemned the statement made by the former prime minister.
“Someone who is not an ulama has issued a political fatwa, claiming that voting for the unity government’s candidate, Suhaizan, is haram.
“I want to ask that person, which Quranic verse and Hadith he uses. When he was part of the Pakatan Harapan 1.0 government, everything was halal to him.
“But when they are no longer aligned, then he issues a fatwa,” he said in a press conference after visiting PPR Kempas Permai here on Sunday (Sept 3).
Ahmad Zahid added that voters in Johor, especially in Pulai and Simpang Jeram, are not easily deceived by such statements.
“In my opinion, the people of Johor and the voters in these two constituencies, in general, have different characteristics compared to voters in the states they control.
“The people of Johor need stability, the voters of Johor want their representatives to fight for their needs and destiny, whether in Pulai and Simpang Jeram,” he said.
During a Perikatan ceramah at Taman Kempas on Saturday night, Muhyiddin declared it “haram” or sinful to vote for Suhaizan in the Pulai by-election.
“Do not give even one vote to Suhaizan, the former Johor speaker. I deem it as haram.
“Tomorrow someone will challenge me on which fatwa this was based on,” the former prime minister remarked.
The Pulai parliamentary seat and Simpang Jeram state seat by-elections were held following the death of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub, who held the respective seats.
Pakatan’s Suhaizan is in a three-cornered fight against Perikatan’s Zulkifli Jaafar and Independent candidate Samsudin Mohamad Fauzi.
Pulai is a mixed seat with Malays comprising 44.18% of the total 166,653 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 with 64,900 votes, giving him a 33,174 majority against Barisan Nasional-Umno’s Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed (31,726 votes) and Loh Kah Yong from Perikatan-Gerakan (20,677 votes).
Credit: The Star : News Feed
