Othman: BN can defend Jerlun, two state seats
JERLUN, April 25 (Bernama) -- Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate for the Jerlun parliamentary constituency Datuk Othman Aziz is confident BN can defend the parliamentary seat and the two state seats of Kota Siputeh and Ayer Hitam in the 14th general election (GE14).
Othman, who is defending the parliamentary seat, said the confidence was based on the key performance indicators of the elected representatives in the area, who had successfully implemented more than 95 per cent of the GE13 pledges.
"I leave it to the people, I am sure the people understand our aspirations and inspirations because we are people of Jerlun, we understand Jerlun's problems and people have room to express their hearts' contents, and we have ears to hear them.
"This is our advantage and, God willing, we can win based on our preparation, our machinery and the grassroots support ... we will win," he told reporters after the 'MOF With The People' corporate responsibility programme officiated by the Ministry of Finance Treasury secretary general Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Siregar Abdullah, here today.
He said joining forces with two other BN candidates Ahmad Azhar Abdullah (Kota Siputeh) and Datuk Abu Hasan Sarif (Ayer Hitam) would be able to continue the development of Jerlun for the next five years if the people once again mandated BN to win these seats.
"I see that the Jerlun people are generally rural people and we have unique and chronic issues in Jerlun alone, so we need the full-time services of the elected representatives.
"That's why the Ahmad Azhar and Abu Hasan's combination will be able to organise and implement daily jobs and I will assist in terms of allocation," he said.
Asked on Chinese support, Othman, who is also Deputy Finance Minister, said the Chinese, representing seven per cent of the 54,132 voters in the constituency, supported BN based on their participation in each programme.
He said although 92 per cent of the voters in the constituency were Malays, BN had never marginalised the Chinese and Indians as well as Siamese in the area by channeling aid equally regardless of political affiliation.
His party had prepared Jerlun BN's manifesto for GE14 focusing on infrastructure, education, youth and sports developments as well as the development of the people's economy and religion.
-- BERNAMA
