Shahrir welcomes taking on Opposition head for JB seat
KUALA LUMPUR: Veteran Johor Baru MP Tan Sri Shahrir Abdul Samad (pic) has confirmed that he will be defending his seat and welcomed a possible battle with DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang.
The Barisan Nasional Backbenchers Club chairman said the battle between him and Lim would give voters a broader choice.
“It will be good if you have someone like me representing Barisan and Lim representing DAP.
“Then voters can make a choice between two different kinds of politics and two different principles of governance,” he told reporters after the Malaysia Tanpa BN? (Malaysia Without BN?) book launch in Parliament yesterday.
Shahrir, 69, said the decision on whether to field him in Johor Baru lies entirely on Barisan chairman Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, adding that it would be an interesting scenario because the federal seat consists of a diverse multiracial setting.
“JB is like Malaysia where 52% of it consists of Malay votes, 40% Chinese votes, 5% Indian votes and the remaining Sabahans and Sarawakians.
“Essentially, Johor Baru is a microcosm of what Peninsular Malaysia is like in terms of racial distribution,” he said.
Speculation is rife that either Lim, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad or PKR vicepresident Nurul Izzah Anwar could be pitted against Shahrir.
Dr Mahathir, who is also Pakatan chairman, is however heavily tipped to contest the Langkawi parliamentary seat, while Nurul, the current Lembah Pantai MP, has recently been linked with the Pandan seat.
At the same time, Shahrir took a swipe against Pakatan Harapan as its candidates are always contesting different seats in each election.
“I don’t think any other country has this kind of politics where leaders from somewhere else are assigned to fight a particular party leader.
“This only happens in Malaysia where you have political assassins,” he said.
Shahrir subsequently questioned Pakatan’s concept of politics, whether the coalition is seeking votes to better serve the people, or to garner votes merely to get a seat in Parliament.
Shahrir was the Johor Baru MP from 1978 to 1990 before taking a break.
He subsequently returned in 2004 and has won every election there since.