Mohd Nor still keeping low profile
No sign of candidate four days into campaign period
SEREMBAN: It is already the fourth day of the Rantau by-election campaign period, but independent candidate Mohd Nor Yassin has yet to start campaigning.
The 66-year-old former lecturer, who said he would share his manifesto yesterday, is now unreachable as calls to his number ended up in his voice mailbox.
Other media members covering the by-election were also not told about his programmes or walkabouts.
When contacted on Tuesday, Mohd Nor said he would share his manifesto the next day as it was still “in the process of printing” and he needed “a day or two” to arrange his campaigning programme.
His opponents – Barisan Nasional candidate Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, Pakatan Harapan candidate Dr S. Streram and independent candidate Malar Rajaram – had programmes and walkabouts lined up for the first four days of the campaign period.
They also set up WhatsApp groups, giving frequent updates to the media on their programmes. But Mohd Nor did not want to set up a WhatsApp group when requested by the media.
He courted controversy after leaving PAS to join Parti Amanah Negara and standing as an independent candidate.
During nomination day on March 30, Mohd Nor, who stood for PAS in Gemencheh in the 2013 general election, came dressed in green and claimed he was a PAS member. But it was pointed out that he had joined Amanah in March.
Amanah said he had gone against the party constitution when he stood as an independent without seeking permission.
It was reported that Amanah is seeking to expel him from the party.
The April 13 Rantau by-election will see a four-cornered fight between Mohamad, Dr Streram, Malar and Mohd Nor.
It was triggered following a Federal Court decision to uphold an earlier ruling by the Election Court to nullify the results for Rantau.
In the 14th General Election, Umno deputy president Mohamad, a threeterm Rantau assemblyman, won the state seat unopposed after Dr Streram was denied entry to the nomination centre to submit his nomination papers as he had no tag or pass.
The Election Court allowed Dr Streram’s petition for a by-election on the grounds that Mohamad’s election victory was not valid.
The Rantau polls is the seventh by-election post-GE14, and the third to be held in 2019 after Cameron Highlands and Semenyih.