KUALA LUMPUR: “I have never stopped serving in Titiwangsa even though I am not its wakil rakyat.”
Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani, who is the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate for the Titiwangsa parliamentary seat in the 15th General Election (GE15), is confident that his service record for the constituency will speak for him.
Johari, who was former minister of finance II, had continued serving the constituency for more than 10 years despite not being its member of parliament.
Today, he pledged to serve constituents on a “much larger scale” if he wins the seat back.
“To me, there is no difference between the last election and this election.
“I have never stopped serving the constituency even though I was not a representative for four years and six months. I continue to work and engage the community through the Bena Nusa Foundation.
“The only difference is that if I win, I can contribute on a larger scale by using my past experience with the federal government,” he said after completing the nomination process at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Aminuddin Baki here, today.
Earlier, Johari was confirmed as one of the four candidates for the Titiwangsa parliamentary seat. He will face PH candidate and former Minister of Federal Territories Khalid Abd Samad; dentist Dr Rosni Adam from Perikatan Nasional, and businessman turned politician Datuk Seri Khairuddin Abu Hassan of Pejuang.
Commenting on the challenge of meeting Khalid who is seen as a ‘heavyweight’ candidate, Johari is of the view that anyone can offer their service to the people but it is the service record of a candidate that will be decisive factor.
He said the choice of many candidates also meant that no party could force the voters to choose them. Instead, they will have to offer the best service to convince the voters.
“The important thing is that voters should do research on the service record and background of each candidate.
“We need to understand that we are in the process of electing the people’s representatives, not ministers. So the people have to know who to vote for,” he said.
In the 13th General Election, Johari won the seat by garnering 23,034 votes and a 866-vote majority against Pas’ Ahmad Zamri Asa’ad Khuzami.
In GE14, the Titiwangsa parliamentary seat was won by Bersatu’s Srikandi leader, Datuk Seri Rina Harun, represented PH with a majority of 4,139 votes, defeating Johari and Pas candidate Mohamad Noor Mohamad.
For GE15, Rina who is also the Minister of Women, Family and Community Development, is contesting the Sepang parliamentary seat representing PN.
Source: NST