KUANTAN, Oct 17 — Pahang Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail is ready to defend the Jelai state seat he has won since 2004, in the 15th General Election (GE15).
“InsyaAllah, I am ready to defend the Jelai state seat if the party leadership allows it. Every time I contest, my vote majority increases, this is my track record and numbers never lie,” he said.
Wan Rosdy who is also Pahang Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman was speaking to reporters after presenting the 2022 Pahang State Micro Entrepreneur Financing Scheme (I-Push Scheme) assistance at the Kuantan City Council Complex City Hall here today.
In the last general election, Wan Rosdy won the Jelai state seat with a majority of 3,507, defeating PAS candidate Abdul Karim Nor who obtained 2,351 votes, while PKR’s Dr Abdul Rasid Ali and Parti Sosialis Malaysia candidate Mat Nor Ayat only obtained 1,298 and 229 votes, respectively.
Wan Rosdy said Pahang BN would also be submitting a list of winnable and corruption-free candidates to contest in GE15 to the party leadership.
In GE14, BN won 25 out of the 42 state assembly seats in Pahang while Pakatan Harapan (PH) won nine and PAS (eight).
BN also won nine of the 14 Parliamentary seats in the state, with the remaining seats going to PH. However, PH lost one seat when Indera Mahkota MP Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah left PKR to join Bersatu in 2020.
Meanwhile, commenting on the 2022 I-Push Scheme, Wan Rosdy said it was an initiative by the state government in cooperation with Bank Muamalat which offered financing of between RM3,000 and RM10,000 with interest-free repayment over a period of five years, in addition to a moratorium for the first year.
The initiative, which targets micro-entrepreneurs affected by COVID-19 and the flood, involves an allocation of RM20 million to benefit 2,500 recipients.
Phase one of the handover today involved 751 entrepreneurs including small hawkers with an allocation of RM7.15 million, while the remainder would be distributed to qualified individuals soon.
