Hamzah still coy on where he will be contesting in GE15

LARUT: Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin is still keeping everyone guessing as to which seat he will be contesting in the 15th General Election (GE15).

He did not want to divulge anything when asked by reporters whether he would be defending his Larut parliamentary seat.

"Where do you want me to contest?," he retorted, breaking out into laughter, when approached by reporters after attending a media retreat programme with clients and friends of the Home Ministry at the Batu Kurau Narcotics Addiction Rehabilitation Centre (PUSPEN) here today.

On Wednesday, Hamzah, who is also Bersatu secretary-general, said his party did not dismiss the possibility of swapping seats with its Perikatan Nasional (PN) component partner as a strategy for the coalition to win GE15.

On Sept 23, the media had reported that seat distribution involving PN components for GE15 was almost completed.

In GE14, Hamzah won the Larut seat on a Barisan Nasional (BN) ticket in a three-cornered fight that also involved PAS and PKR. He then left UMNO, the lynchpin of BN, to become an independent MP before joining Bersatu.

Asked about a PAS leader revealing that Bersatu had been told that there should be no clash in 27 'critical seats' with UMNO in GE15, he said the matter would be discussed further.

"I will meet with them to resolve the matter. We will formulate another strategy," he said.

Today, PAS Central Working Committee member Mohd Zuhdi Marsuki was reported as saying that it (asking Bersatu not to contest the 27 critical seats) was to ensure that they did not fall into the hands of Pakatan Harapan (PH) after BN and PN decided not to work with each other in GE15.

Reportedly, the 27 parliamentary seats involve 20 won by PH following PAS and UMNO being in the fray, while the other seven are at risk of falling to PH due to the narrow defeats of the opposition coalition (PH) in them in GE14.

Parliament was dissolved on Monday (Oct 10). GE15 must be held within 60 days from Oct 10.

The Election Commission will be meeting on Oct 20 to decide on the important dates for GE15.

Meanwhile, Hamzah urged the public not to look down on PUSPEN inmates.

He said this was because it had been proven that many inmates who were successfully rehabilitated went on to be successful in life upon their release from PUSPEN.

"Some have succeeded in becoming entrepreneurs, businessmen and in fact some even have succeeded in reaching a high level in education.

"This is something we stress to our clients, to be patient and enthusiastic. There are many who are successful, some have even opened their own supermarkets," he said, adding that society should give them a chance upon their release (from PUSPEN) to improve themselves and avoid falling back into the problem of drug abuse due to depression.

-- BERNAMA