Muhyiddin (right) asked Malaysians to be patient with the PH coalition, saying it could not undo six decades of the previous BN’s rule in just a year or two. — Picture by Ben Tan

PONTIAN, Nov 15 — Johor Pakatan Harapan (PH) chief Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said MCA and its Tanjung Piai by-election candidate, Datuk Seri Wee Jeck Seng, must explain their stand on PAS and its hudud agenda

He said this was necessary for the electorate to understand how Barisan Nasional will function along with the Muafakat Nasional between PAS and Umno, before they vote on this loose alliance for the first time on Saturday.

“I have never trusted PAS as the Islamist party believes that they are better Muslims than the rest.

“That’s why they are pushing for hudud,” said Muhyiddin during a PH ceramah in Taman Utama in Pekan Nanas here last night.

More than 400 people turned up for the session.

Muhyiddin, who was once BN deputy chairman, said the coalition had resisted PAS over the hudud issue before, particularly MCA.

When PAS had allied with DAP in Pakatan Rakyat, MCA told Chinese voters prior to the 13th general election that each vote for DAP would essentially be one for the Islamists.

“Now MCA and Umno are together with PAS, where does Jeck Seng stand on this issue? BN are broken (after) forming an alliance with PAS,” said the Pagoh MP.

Muhyiddin, who is also Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) president, also urged voters to trust in Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s ability to restore the nation’s economy.

He asked Malaysians to be patient with the PH coalition, saying it could not undo six decades of the previous BN’s rule in just a year or two.

Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) president Mohamad Sabu reminded the constituency’s Chinese voters of why they rejected and voted against BN in the last general election.

Admitting that PH has yet to fulfil all of its election promises, Mohamad, or popularly known as Mat Sabu, also argued it was too soon to judge PH as it has only been in power for over a year-and-half.

He said PH was open to criticism but hoped voters would not express their anger by voting for BN.

“I am also not satisfied (by the government’s performance) as there are a lot of promises that we have yet to fulfill,” said Mohamad.

PH has been working to remedy the perceived lack of support from the Chinese community here ahead of the November 16 poll.

The Tanjung Piai parliamentary constituency is divided into Pekan Nanas that has 26,608 registered voters with nearly half of the voters being ethnic Chinese, while Kukup has 26,920 voters where 60 per cent of them are Malay.

Pekan Nanas’ Chinese voters have traditionally been seen as DAP’s vote bank for the past two general elections.

The Tanjung Piai by-election will see a six-way contest between PH’s Karmaine Sardini, BN’s Wee, Gerakan’s Wendy Subramaniam, Berjasa’s Datuk Badhrulhisham Abdul Aziz, and two independent candidates Ang Chuan Lock and Faridah Aryani Abdul Ghaffar.

Voting is tomorrow.