SEMENYIH, Feb 17 — Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate for the Semenyih State Assembly constituency by-election Muhammad Aiman Zainali asserted that his appointment as a candidate was made based on merit rather than family ties.
According to him, the top leadership of the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) had set a criteria that a person must have to be chosen as a candidate.
“They (the Bersatu leaders) have also explained that I was chosen not because I was the son-in-law of the incumbent (Bakhtiar Mohd Nor), but there are some stipulated criteria (to be met).
“I passed the criteria based on qualification and I was picked,” he told reporters after visiting the late Bakhtiar’s grave at the Kampung Pasir Baru Islamic Cemetery here today.
He was commenting on the criticisms of certain parties who questioned his candidacy in the Semenyih by-election because he was the son-in-law of the late Bakhtiar.
Muhammad Aiman, 30, is an engineer currently pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical Engineering at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Shah Alam.
Meanwhile, Muhammad Aiman, who spent about 15 minutes at the cemetery, said Bakhtiar was someone one who always had a high commitment towards his job even though he was not healthy.
“Indeed, he worked very hard work and did not realise he was very ill. In fact, even when he was ill he kept the matter under wraps and focused on work,” he said.
The Semenyih by-election would be held following the death of Bakhtiar on January 11 due to a heart attack. The early votings were set for February 26 while polling would be on March 2.
The by-election would see a four-cornered fight between Muhammad Aiman, Zakaria Hanafi (Barisan Nasional), Kuan Chee Heng (Independent) and Nik Aziz Afiq Abdul (Parti Socialist of Malaysia). — Bernama
