PETALING JAYA: Former Layang Layang assemblyman Abd Mutalib Abd Rahim has quit Umno and joined Bersatu to contest the seat under the Perikatan Nasional ticket.
Mutalip claimed the move came after he received support from a majority of voters there who wanted him to remain the candidate for the seat in the Johor state election, Utusan Malaysia reported.
“I no longer want to be a candidate in Layang-Layang, but voters, nearly 60% of whom are Malays, are asking why BN has fielded a non-Malay candidate.
“So, out of responsibility to religion, race and voters who want me to be the candidate again, I made this decision,” he was quoted as saying in Muar.
He also said he had no quarrel with Umno or the Simpang Renggam Umno division chief, Onn Hafiz Ghazi, emphasising that political parties were merely a platform to serve the people.
“We are not here to prove who is better, but to do our best for the people’s welfare and well-being,” he said.
BN has named MCA’s Chua Juan Boon as its candidate for the Layang-Layang seat for the July 11 polls, replacing Mutalip.
In the previous state election, Mutalip won the seat with a 2,815-vote majority, defeating PKR’s Maszlee Malik, Perikatan Nasional’s K Alagenthiran and Pejuang’s Ahmad Shafiq Othman.
