Ismail willing to contest against ex-mentor

PASIR GUDANG: Acting Pagoh Umno chief Ismail Mohamed does not mind going up against his former mentor, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, for the Pagoh parliamentary seat in the polls.

Ismail said he was willing to take on the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia president, who had been “like a teacher” to him.

“I will abide by the decision taken by the party if they want me to go against Tan Sri (Muhyiddin),” he said after presenting RM3mil in grants to some 700 entrepreneurs yesterday.

The state exco member and Bukit Serampang assemblyman said that although it would be tough contesting against the former deputy prime minister, he believed that voters in Pagoh were wise enough.

Ismail was the deputy chief of

Pagoh Umno when Muhyiddin headed it before his sacking.

“We have 106 branches in Pagoh Umno with about 20,000 members and only fewer than 500 of our members have joined Pribumi,” said Ismail.

Pagoh Umno, he said, had also identified 25,000 Malay voters in the parliamentary constituency who had pledged to vote for Barisan Nasional.

Ismail said out of these voters, some 9,000 were aged between 21 and 40. Of the 9,000 voters, about 2,000 will be casting their ballots for the first time.

“Based on surveys done by our election machinery for the past two years, feedback from Pagoh voters shows that they would go for the party and not the candidate,” he said, adding that the main focus now was to defend the Pagoh seat at all costs.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who visited Pagoh last month, also said Barisan would ensure Pagoh rejoins its fold.

Bukit Serampang is one of the two state seats in the Pagoh constituency, the other being Jorak, whose assemblyman Datuk Dr Sharuddin Md Salleh has now joined Pribumi.

Feedback from Pagoh voters showed that they would go for the party and not the candidate. Ismail Mohamed