CHUKAI, Nov 25 — Terengganu needs to have an elected representative who is aligned with the federal government block in order to carry out the check and balance function and bring the voice of the people in the state to the federal level more effectively.
UMNO vice president Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani said this can be materialised if Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Gen (Rtd) Tan Sri Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohamed Noor wins the Kemaman by-election on Dec 2.
“We need a check-and-balance in the state (Terengganu) because both DUN (State Legislative Assembly) and Parliament have no (representatives from the government bloc), so give us one seat, so that we can bring benefits to the people.
“Sometimes there are issues that we want to raise in Parliament, and we work with many Members of Parliament…but we don’t have any from Terengganu. If we get one (seat), this is good because we can work together to raise issues in Parliament, and when there is a budget tabling, we can bring critical problems in this constituency,” he said.
He said this to reporters after a walkabout with Raja Mohamed Affandi at Kampung Bakau Tinggi here today.
The by-election will see a straight fight between Raja Mohamed Affandi and Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar representing PAS.
On the by-election campaign trail, Johari, who is also the Titiwangsa Member of Parliament, praised Raja Mohamed Affandi’s approach of meeting the people, saying it was well received by Kemaman constituents.
“I see that Tan Sri’s (Raja Mohamed Affandi) approach is very good, they can accept it, they don’t regard him as a pure politician, he is the former chief of Defence Forces but very down to earth, we can place trust in him to bring issues in Terengganu.
“I’d like to take this opportunity to urge Kemaman voters to give Tan Sri (Raja Mohamed) Affandi a chance because he has the ability to help us, especially Terengganu, which has no government representatives,” he said.
