SHAH ALAM, July 26 — The Pakatan Harapan (PH) Selangor government attitude of never neglecting the duty of taking care of the interests and welfare of the people, particularly the Malays, in the state has been cited as clear proof of why the people continue to elect the same administration.

The PH candidate for the Sungai Kandis state by-election, Mohd Zawawi Ahmad Mughni, said today the various people-centric programmes involving the poor, entrepreneurs, fishermen and farmers implemented and being implemented by the state government mainly benefited the Malays.

"The constituents of Sungai Kandis are also not exempt from the benefits of these programmes, including 20 cubic metres of free water. Furthermore, eight ‘pasar malam’ (night market) sites in Jalan Kebun and Johan Setia have been gazetted to enable traders, especially Malays, to improve their economy,” he said at a press conference on the sixth day of campaigning.

The Sungai Kandis by-election has been necessitated by the death of the assemblyman, Mat Shuhaimi Shafiei of PKR, on July 2. Polling is on August 4 for the three-cornered contest that also involves Datuk Lokman Noor Adam of the Barisan Nasional (BN) and independent candidate K. Murthy.

Mohd Zawawi was directing the remarks at Lokman Noor who he claimed was trying to champion the Malays in his election campaign, apparently alleging that the Malays were not cared for by the PH state administration.

He said it seemed like Lokman Noor was running out of capital to campaign, so much so that he had to come up with baseless allegations but it was public knowledge that the people of Selangor had rejected the BN since 2008.

Mohd Zawawi said the allegations did not dampen his and the state government resolve to continue to assist the people, especially those in Sungai Kandis, and added that his victory would ensure that the people, especially the Malays, in the constituency would be well taken care of.

The PH candidate called at Hidayah Cookies in Jalan Melayu, Kampung Sungai Kandis, and the SME entrepreneur Sarimah Jantan acknowledged that she had received much assistance from the state government to develop her business.

"I started the business in 2000 in a small way and with the assistance of the PH government, the business has expanded to the extent of winning various awards and recognition. I very much hope for Ustaz Mohd Zawawi to continue providing assistance and raising the standard of the SMEs in this area,” she said. — Bernama