Permatang Pauh needs full-time elected rep - Muhyiddin

The Permatang Pauh constituents need a full-time elected representative who can resolve their problems, not a member of Parliament who will only be in the area once in a while.

Barisan Nasional (BN) deputy chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said elected representatives who only came occasionally to the area could not help to resolve the problems of the constituents.

"If I were a resident of Permatang Pauh, I would need my elected representative to be here...ask anyone in Permatang Pauh whether they want their elected representative to look after Kajang and come here once a month," he told reporters, here today.

Yesterday, PKR director of strategy Sin Tze Tzin said the question of Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail serving as an elected representatives in two different constituencies was not an issue to the party.

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In fact, he said, the PKR president, as the candidate for the by-election for the Permatang Pauh parliamentary constituency as well as the Kajang State Assemblyman in Selangor, could still provide a good service for the people of Kajang with the assistance of the government led by PKR in Selangor.

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Muhyiddin, who is also the deputy prime minister, said the more than 71,000 voters in Permatang Pauh needed an elected representative who could concentrate fully on solving the problems of the constituents.

"Certainly the work to be implemented will not be effective...if she says they will be handled by the Selangor Menteri Besar, then there is no need to contest there (Kajang), just assign Azmin (Ali) to look after the constituency, there is no elected representative," he said.

He said that based on the records of Wan Azizah in Kajang, she did not go down on the ground, whereas her pledge prior to the 'Kajang move' (Langkah Kajang) was to tackle the problems of the people and the floods in Kajang.

The situation was different with the Barisan Nasional candidate, Suhaimi Sabudin, who would certainly be in the Permatang Pauh parliamentary constituency full-time to serve the constituents, he said.

"This constituency needs a full-time elected representative who can give full attention to the area, which is far better than Wan Azizah who has no time at all," said Muhyiddin.