Ayer Hitam Umno leader dismisses impact of party ‘rejects’

YONG PENG: Malay voters in Johor will not be moved by two former Umno ministers’ decision to back Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Pakatan Harapan (PH), said the head of the Ayer Hitam Umno division.

Datuk Samsolbari Jamali claimed that both Tun Daim Zainuddin and Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz might have been prominent during Dr Mahathir’s administration but they no longer held sway with the public now.

“If the people reject Mahathir, what more his former ministers who are loyal to him,” he said when met after attending a ground-breaking ceremony for affordable homes here.

He also rejected any likelihood that both former Umno leaders would help swell the so-called “Malay tsunami” that PH is predicting in the general election.

Among others, he said Daim and Rafidah’s entry into the PH campaign came too late in the day.

“We have 222 Parliament seats for the taking, how many can they visit in a day? Not all seats have been visited by them and they only go to seats they want to go only,” he said.

He added that Malay voters in the state have been convinced about the alleged dangers posed to them by DAP, which he claimed was also attempting to drive a wedge between the different races.

Samsolbari then predicted that Johor DAP chief Liew Chin Tong’s career would be ended by his defeat here by incumbent MP Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong.