Pn Win In Pelangai Can Trigger Change Of Pahang Govt Muhyiddin

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PELANGAI BY-ELECTION | Perikatan Nasional can take over the Pahang state government through defections after it wins the Pelangai by-election, said Muhyiddin Yassin.
Speaking at a dialogue session earlier this evening, the PN chairperson hinted that PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man will be the next Pahang menteri besar if this happens.
“... Pelangai by-election is for the rakyat to come together with us in giving a clear signal.
“While winning Pelangai won’t change much the composition of state assembly members as it will only add one more seat for us, having one more seat means we are only four representatives fewer (than the government side).
“Maybe, who knows, one morning some Umno representatives suddenly realise that they had made a mistake and want to join our coalition.
“(If this happens), Tuan Ibrahim, Insya Allah will be the next Pahang menteri besar,” he said.
Muhyiddin was speaking at a dialogue session with Malay NGOs in Simpang Durian, a district in Negeri Sembilan that borders Pelangai.
Pahang has yet to enact an anti-hopping law, which is aimed to prevent elected representatives from defecting to a different party than the one they were elected on.
BN won 16 state seats in Pahang during the 15th general election, while PN won 17. However, BN managed to form the state government after it entered a cooperation with Pakatan Harapan, which had eight seats in the state legislative assembly.
The Pelangai seat was won by BN’s Johari Harun, who died in a plane crash on Aug 17, thus triggering the by-election.
PN open to all
Speaking to reporters after the event, Muhyiddin said PN is open to accepting anyone who wants to support them, including government representatives who agree to follow the coalition's principles.
However, Muhyiddin said, he has no information on the circulating rumours that four Pahang state assembly members purportedly want to join PN.
“We are open to anyone who wants to support us. But I am not sure who these purported four are, or if there is any truth to the rumour.
“Whatever it is, Pelangai is important to us. We are working hard to explain to the voters so they can give their votes to our candidate Kasim Samat.
“If we manage to win, it will definitely strengthen PN's position. We know the numbers are still not enough, but if it happens to be a situation that can open the opportunity for us to form a government, then we hope we can do so,” he said.
Focus is on winning first
Meanwhile, Tuan Ibrahim, who is the Cheka state assemblyperson, told the dialogue session they should bring the four purported government representatives to him if it is true they want to defect.
Tuan Ibrahim Tuan ManHe said this when asked by an audience about the possibility of PN taking over the state government.
“My answer is simple, if there really are four representatives (who want to join us), bring them here.
“The Pahang state assembly has not passed an anti-hopping law, which means we have yet to enforce it. We are still discussing the bill,” he said.
When asked by Malaysiakini later, Tuan Ibrahim said no government representative has approached him or PN so far.
For now, the Pahang opposition chief added, they want to focus on winning Pelangai first.
“We focus (on Pelangai), Insya Allah, who knows, Wallahualam,” he said. - Mkini

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