Fight for Parit Yaani will be challenging, says BN candidate

BATU PAHAT: Barisan Nasional’s Najib Samuri admits that the contest for the Parit Yaani seat in the Johor state election will be challenging as he will be involved in a straight fight with a “senior” Pakatan Harapan leader.

Najib will defend the seat he won at the 2022 state polls against a challenge from Ezam Taslim.

He said while Ezam is considered a “fresh face”, he is the Amanah vice-chief for Sri Gading and an aide to Aminolhuda Hassan, the Johor Pakatan Harapan chairman.

“Will it (the battle for the seat) be easy? Not really. Ezam is Aminolhuda’s understudy of sorts.

“So, when he was named the candidate for Parit Yaani, it was akin to Aminolhuda contesting the seat, which is why we are not taking it lightly,” he told FMT.

Najib said BN was aware of the strength of PH’s machinery as Aminolhuda had been the coalition’s candidate for the constituency previously and wielded considerable influence in Sri Gading.

Aminolhuda is the MP for Sri Gading, the parliamentary constituency under which Parit Yaani is one of two state seats.

In the last state election, Najib secured the seat in a four-cornered contest, which included Aminolhuda, with a slim majority of 294 votes. Najib garnered 9,070 votes, while Aminolhuda managed 8,776.

Najib said BN’s focus this time around will be on increasing the number of votes the coalition receives rather than the majority it secures.

“But when the president says he wants a four-figure majority, we will work towards it,” he said.

He said his slim victory in the four-cornered contest at the last polls was still fresh in his memory, noting that he was not only challenged by Aminolhuda, a two-term assemblyman, but also the Johor PAS Youth chief, Ahmad Nawfal Mahfodz.

“It was a fierce contest,” he said.

On local issues, Najib said no major problems affect Parit Yaani. He said he resolved issues relating to stalled projects, flood mitigation, and development during his first term as an assemblyman.