JOHOR BARU, April 26 — The Malay proverb “bagai sirih pulang ke gagang” (back to where one started) aptly describes Datuk Osman Sapian’s candidacy for the Kempas state seat under Pakatan Harapan (PH).

“It feels good to be contesting in Kempas again, to which I have a long attachment. To be frank, I never felt that I was away from Kempas at all, as most of my life has been spent here.

“After all, the community here know my proven record and they know how I work to service them,” the seasoned politician told Malay Mail today.

His expected candidacy for the Kempas seat has seen him being active again in community-related activities in the area, which is his forte.

Osman, a former senior Johor Umno member, was a three-term assemblyman for Kempas from 1999 until 2013, when he was dropped.

This was due to escalating clashes between him and Pulai Umno division chief Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed then. This also caused factions within the division as Osman was a known local Umno warlord at that time.

Osman left Umno in late 2016 for splinter party Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM).

Now the Johor PPBM secretary, he is bullish about winning Kempas in the 14th general election (GE14), despite going against former protégé Datuk Ramlee Bohani, who is Barisan Nasional’s (BN) candidate.

“I don’t have a problem going against him (Ramlee) as I know him and we have worked together in the past when I was in the Pulai Umno division.

“That said, I’m ready to take him on as my adversary for Kempas,” said Osman.

The 67-year-old businessman reputedly had strong grassroots support during his Umno days.

Osman, who is experienced in community-related affairs, is also known to mingle well with the non-Malay community that makes up a good proportion of voters here.

He will also be able to draw on his familiarity with Umno’s inner workings, having helped set up most of the Umno branches in Kempas during his time as the Pulai division’s vice chief and also deputy chief.

As for Ramlee, the 55-year-old Johor Umno Liaison secretary and deputy Pulai Umno chief is not new to Kempas.

He is known to be active on the ground and had been expected to contest Kempas during the 2013 general election. However, he was replaced by Tengku Putra Haron Aminurrashid Tengku Hamid Jumat at the eleventh hour.

Despite that, Ramlee still made his presence felt to the community during parliamentary-level events in Kempas.

This time, when BN officially named him as its candidate, Ramlee revived his old team.

PAS’s Dzulkefli Suleiman is expected to make it a three-cornered contest for the Kempas state seat.

Kempas is one of the two important urban state seats under the Pulai parliamentary constituency, currently held by Nur Jazlan.

In the previous general election, BN’s Tengku Putra Haron won the seat against then-PAS candidate Suhaizan Kaiat with a majority of 3,947 votes.