Be prepared for tough contest with Najib in Pekan, Rafizi tells Ezam

Seat allocations decided collectively by Pakatan Harapan, PKR MP tells Ezam Mohd Nor and Khairuddin Abu Hassan who want coalition to accept their new party.

(FMT) – If Ezam Mohd Nor, who is forming a new political outfit, is serious about taking on Prime Minister Najib Razak in the latter’s Pekan constituency, then he must make sure he is a strong enough candidate.

PKR’s Rafizi Ramli said this is because Pekan is Najib’s stronghold and not only Ezam, but anyone wishing to contest for the seat should be prepared for a tough fight.

“We can’t stop anyone from forming their own party because it’s their right to do so. But at the moment, if Ezam wishes to contest against Najib, he must be someone who is prepared to speak up against Najib the most, until Najib is handicapped.

“Then, I think there will be no problem for him to fight against Najib,” the Pandan MP told reporters when met at Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) Felda Convention held at Dewan Jubli Perak Sultan Abdul Aziz here today.

Ezam and former Batu Kawan Umno vice-chief Khairuddin Abu Hassan had earlier this week announced their plan to form a new political party with the single focus of fighting corruption.

Khairuddin who spoke to FMT on Wednesday, said Ezam planned to contest for the Pekan seat, while he wished to go against Second Finance Minister Johari Abdul Ghani for the Titiwangsa parliamentary seat.

He also said that the party hoped to be a component of Pakatan Harapan.

However, according to Rafizi, if the new party is to contest under the Pakatan banner, then it must be aware that any decision on election seats has to be made by Pakatan leaders collectively.

At the moment, they have yet to decide on who they would field for both seats.

“Who is deemed to be the best candidate to go against Najib is a decision that has to be made by the opposition pact. It’s not my decision or anybody else’s.

“Whoever has been fighting hard against Najib, and has successfully weakened him, that person will be seen as the most suitable person to go up against him,” Rafizi said.

Najib was elected to the Pekan seat in 1976. He was only 23 then. Prior to that, the seat was held by Najib’s father and second prime minister, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein.

In the last general election (GE13), Najib defeated PKR’s Mohd Fariz Musa with a majority of 35,613 votes.