SEMENYIH, Feb 10 — Umno Youth Chief Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki and his PAS counterpart Muhammad Khalil Abdul Hadi today said that the upcoming Semenyih by-election can be considered the public’s referendum on the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration so far.
Both wing leaders told a press conference today that due to the recent scandals plaguing certain leaders in the government coupled with the inability of PH to deliver on its manifesto promises, the voters in Semenyih can show their disappointment through the ballot box.
“The demography here is interesting because it has many different backgrounds ranging from academics to upper middle class, lower middle class and rural folks. It is an image of Malaysia.
“It has 68 per cent Malays, 17 per cent Chinese, 14 per cent Indians and 1 per cent others. There’s a difference between education and economic levels ranging from the rural communities to elite housing areas.
“I feel this will be a testing ground for Barisan Nasional (BN) to see how the public can voice their anger and disappointment at the unfulfilled promises made by PH,” said Asyraf.
Muhammad Khalil added saying this was an opportunity for the Semenyih voters to send a message to PH that they can be voted in and they can also be voted out.
Asyraf also voiced his confidence that BN can wrest the seat away from PH’s coalition party member PPBM.
When asked regarding how the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) investigation into the alleged RM90 million being paid to PAS supremo Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang by Umno will affect their campaign, both men laughed it off.
“I thought the fake certificate issue has drowned that issue,” said Muhammad Khalil who was referring to the allegations against Deputy Foreign Minister Marzuki Yahya’s dubious degree certificate from Cambridge International University.
Asyraf picked up on his counterpart’s answer adding that Marzuki is an “embarrassment” to the nation and demanded his resignation.
“We at the youth level demand this because it is an embarrassment to the nation. How will the deputy foreign minister represent the nation at international forums?
“How will he face other foreign leaders when the news has gone viral that he is not as qualified as written in his biodata and has had his Wikipedia page edited a few times (recently)?” alleged Asyraf.
He added that Umno Youth has never demanded that a minister or politicians have academic qualifications such as a doctorate but it is critical that the ministers and politicians be honest and have integrity.
Asyraf and Muhammad Khalil also announced that they have established a new joint task force together with Ikatan and Berjasa to come up with public programmes to highlight and explain the flaws of the current Pakatan Harapan administration.
