Harder for Dyana to get government funding, says Ahmad Maslan

It would be much harder for a lawmaker from the Opposition to request for funding from the government, said Barisan Nasional (BN) information chief Datuk Ahmad Maslan.

Ahmad argued that voters in Teluk Intan would be better off choosing a candidate representing BN, namely Gerakan president Datuk Mah Siew Keong, as he would have the full backing of both the State and Federal government.

“If the voters give mandate to BN, we are confident that a lot of changes we can do in Teluk Intan.

“I go in and out of the kampongs and I see so much we can do in terms of infrastructure. The only candidate who is backed up by the state and federal government is Mah,” Ahmad told reporters at the sidelines of a BN ceramah (talk) on Wednesday night.

“Voters need to think about and be aware of this, and know the effect of their votes,” the Pontian MP said.

For a candidate such as DAP’s Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud, he said, would find it difficult to develop the constituency as her visions would not be in line with what the State and Federal government wants.

“For sure she would not get the satisfactory attention,” he said.

Asked if such seeming ‘double standards’ was unfair to the voters who did not vote for BN, Ahmad said that was the reality of politics in Malaysia.

“In the context of Malaysia, that’s what happens. We don’t want to be hypocrites. I said that a BN representative would definitely get more attention.

“The same thing happens in Selangor, Kelantan and Penang. Their representatives get more attention,” he explained.

Mah, 53, will face Dyana, 27, in a straight fight for the Teluk Intan parliamentary seat.

Mah, a local, is a former deputy minister and was Teluk Intan MP for two terms as well as former assemblyman for Pasir Bedemar.

Dyana, meanwhile, is a lawyer and former political secretary of DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang.

The seat fell vacant following the death of former MP from DAP, Seah Leong Peng due to cancer on May 1.

In 2013, during the 13th General Election, Seah defeated Mah and independent K. Moralingam with a majority of 7,313 votes.

The Chinese comprise the largest group of voters in at 42% (25,310), followed by the Malays (23,301) at 38% cent, and the Indians at 19% (11,648), totalling over 60,000 voters.

Polling day will be on May 31.