Elections are not the place to determine the faith of voters, said Saifuddin

NIBONG TEBAL: Elections are not a place to determine the faith of the voters, but rather should be a field for political parties to explain plans and agendas arranged for the people if they win seats.

According to Bernama, PKR Secretary General Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said if any party acted in such a manner, then they should not be supported in any campaign.

“The election campaign means that the two opposing sides tell stories (share) about their policies, plans, agendas when they get the power to rule and how to work to help the people.

“Elections are not a place for us to say that ‘If you vote for us, you’re Muslims and if you don’t vote for us, you will not be our brother anymore’. That can’t be done, this is not a matter of determining the faith of the voters but a matter of managing the country,” he said.

He said this while speaking at the inaugural Unity Talk program held in conjunction with the Sungai Bakap by-election at Taman Widuri, Sungai Jawi.

Also present were Amanah President Mohamad Sabu, Amanah Strategic Director Dzulkefly Ahmad, Umno Supreme Council Member Zambry Kadir, and Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate Joohari Ariffin.

The home minister also said, in this time’s by-election, the people of Sungai Bakap were lucky to be offered a candidate with an excellent ‘studying’ (academic) qualification.

“If you want to be a state leader, you have to be a strong and trustworthy leader, so it’s best to appoint him (Joohari) to be the people’s representative here (Sungai Bakap).

“…God willing, there are many advantages if the people of Sungai Bakap choose a unity government candidate because at the state government level, many exco can help with various matters, as well as at the federal level,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mohamad requested that his ‘old friends’ from Barisan Nasional (BN) support the unity government candidate to ensure victory in their favour.

“I used to be with BN. BN is working hard, if all our candidates vote in a unity government, we are confident that we can win even though there are many racial issues played by the opposition,” he said.

The Sungai Bakap by-election on July 6 saw a one-on-one clash between Joohari and Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidate Abidin Ismail.

The by-election was held following the death of incumbent Nor Zamri Latiff on May 24 due to inflammation in the stomach.