KUALA LIPIS: Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said yesterday the presence of Prime Minister and Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad during the campaign in the Cameron Highlands parliamentary by-election should not be turned into an issue.
He said Dr Mahathir, who is also Bersatu chairman, had taken the opportunity of the by-election to come to Cameron Highlands to enable the constituents to meet the prime minister following the change of government in May last year.
It was not the normal practice in the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) administration for the prime minister to go down to the ground during a by-election, he said, adding that it was the deputy prime minister who did that then and he, as the deputy prime minister in the BN government, had done so in several by-elections as the director of elections.
“Now, with Pakatan Harapan (PH), every leader is committed to helping our candidates to win the elections,” he said after a meeting with the Cameron Highlands by-election PH machinery involving coalition partners Bersatu, DAP, PKR and Amanah in Kampung Kuala Medang here.
Also present was DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.
Muhyiddin, who is the Home Minister, also said that it did not mean that the prime minister was helping with the campaign because the PH was fearful of losing the
by-election.
“Dr Mahathir also campaigned during the Port Dickson parliamentary by-election,” he pointed out. PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim won the Port Dickson by-election for PH with a 23,560-vote majority on Oct 13 last year.
Muhyiddin said he was sure that all PH leaders, including Dr Mahathir, would help with the campaign in the forthcoming Semenyih state by-election, the nomination for which is on Feb 16 and polling on March 2.
He said the people wanted to meet the prime minister to learn what message he had for them post-GE14.
Responding to a question, Muhyiddin said a viral video clip on social media showing him and several party members chatting with an elderly woman was an old one that had done the rounds on social media at the end of 2017.
He said the video clip had been circulated several times to undermine his reputation.
“I wish to explain that I have come here only today to campaign. That video was taken during the floods in Penang, long before the general election was held,” he said.
The Camerons by-election is a four-cornered contest among M Manogaran of PH, Ramli Mohd Noor of BN and two independents, Wong Seng Yee and Sallehudin Ab Talib.
It is being held following the Election Court’s nullification of the victory of Datuk C Sivarraajh of BN in the 14th General Election due to vote-buying. – Bernama
