Muhyiddin puts on the PH jacket on Muhammad Aiman. — Bernama photo
SEMENYIH: Pakatan Harapan (PH) yesterday announced Muhammad Aiman Zainali, 30, as its candidate for the Semenyih state by-election on March 2.
Muhammad Aiman is the treasurer of the Hulu Langat division of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu). He is an engineer currently pursuing a doctorate in electrical engineering at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Shah Alam Campus.
PH deputy president and Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin made the announcement here. The by-election has been necessitated by the death of the assemblyman, Bakhtiar Mohd Nor of Bersatu, of a heart attack on Jan 11.
It will be the sixth by-election to be held after the 14th general election (GE14) in May last year.
The previous by-elections were for the Sungai Kandis state seat (on Aug 4), Balakong and Seri Setia state seats (Sept 8), Port Dickson parliamentary seat (Oct 13) and Cameron Highlands parliamentary seat (Jan 26).
Also present at the announcement of the PH candidate were PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, Selangor PH chairman Amirudin Shari and Bersatu deputy president Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir.
In his reaction, Muhammad Aiman, who is also Bakhtiar’s son-in-law, said he was ready to go all out to win the by-election and to serve and help solve the problems faced by the constituents.
He said his status as Bakhtiar’s son-in-law was not an advantage for him to be named as PH candidate, as he had gone through all the proper channels in the selection process before being shortlisted among other potential candidates.
“I have to work hard on my own capacity,” he said.
He said if elected, he would focus, among other things, on education and basic infrastructures, such as roads, for the people.
In the GE14 last May, Bakhtiar garnered 23,428 votes to defeat three other candidates – Datuk Johan Abd Aziz (Barisan Nasional), Mad Shahmidur Mat Kosim (PAS) and S. Arutchelvan (PSM), with 8,964-vote majority.
At a press conference later, Muhyiddin said he believed that Muhammad Aiman would be able to discharge the duties of an assemblyman despite being a young chap.
“He is not too young and not too old. I have checked his qualifications, he has indeed graduated with a degree in engineering from UiTM,” he said, referring to the Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering (First Class) obtained by Muhammad Aiman from UiTM Shah Alam in 2012.
He said the candidate, who is married and a father of one, also used to follow his father-in-law during the late assemblyman’s visits to the ground to meet with the people.
Nomination for the Semenyih by-election is set this Saturday (Feb 16), while early voting is on Feb 26. — Bernama