No PAS, no worries for Johor Bersatu No 2

Bersatu’s Senggarang candidate Rashid Hasnon said he has the support of fellow PN components Gerakan and MIPP on the campaign trail.

BATU PAHAT: Johor Bersatu deputy chief Rashid Hasnon is unperturbed by the absence of PAS’s machinery as he campaigns for election in Senggarang in the July 11 state polls.

The former Batu Pahat MP said PAS’s decision not to help Bersatu in its campaign would not affect his work, as Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) machinery was not supplied by just one party.

He said he had the support of fellow PN components Gerakan and the Malaysian Indian People’s Party on the campaign trail.

“And our election machinery doesn’t just come from Batu Pahat. We can use our machinery from other states as well,” he said in an interview with FMT.

The former Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker expressed confidence that those who backed Bersatu in the past would give him their support, citing his close relationship with grassroots and voters in Senggarang.

Rashid also played down the presence of two divisional PAS leaders at a Barisan Nasional (BN) event yesterday in Batu Pahat, the parliamentary constituency under which Senggarang falls.

He said their presence did not reflect the stand of all PAS members in Batu Pahat, especially those in Senggarang, and that the BN event took place outside of the state constituency.

“It’s entirely up to the party, but I don’t see (PAS members supporting BN over Bersatu) in Senggarang.”

Bersatu is contesting 16 of the 33 seats for which PN is competing in Johor. PAS meanwhile is fielding 11 candidates. While they remain coalition allies, the two parties are not assisting each other in their election campaigns.

Batu Pahat consists of three state constituencies, none of which PAS is contesting, while Bersatu is vying for two seats: Senggarang and Rengit.

Rashid faces a three-cornered fight in Senggarang where he takes on current Batu Pahat MP Onn Abu Bakar of Pakatan Harapan and BN’s Yusla Ismail, who was the Senggarang assemblyman until the dissolution of the state assembly last month.

In the 2022 state polls, Yusla won the seat with a 3,912-vote majority.