BATU PAHAT, Feb 26 ― Umno supreme council member Datuk Mohd Puad Zakarshi is facing a four-way fight in the Rengit seat under the Batu Pahat federal constituency in the Johor state election.

Despite a prohibition by the authorities for any form of political gathering to prevent the spread of the highly contagious Covid-19 — which is still totting up thousands of cases daily nationwide — he was graced by some 25 Barisan Nasional supporters following his arrival at the nomination centre.

A handful of supporters from Perikatan Nasional were also present to lend support to their candidate.

Puad arrived shortly before the nomination centre opened at 9am sharp.

In contrast, PKR's Khairuddin Abdul Rahim who is also Senggarang incumbent was the earliest to arrive at 8.15am, while Perikatan Nasional's Mohammad Huzair Lajis followed suit at 8.40am.

Known constitutional lawyer Nizam Bashir Abdul Kariem Bashir who is contesting on a Parti Pejuang Tanah Air ticket was the last to enter the nomination hall after arriving around 9.05am.

At 10am, the Election Commission announced that it had accepted the nomination papers submitted by the four candidates.

With this, Rengit is confirmed to be a four-way fight, barring any of the four from pulling out mid-stream.

When met outside the nomination centre, Nizam Bashir said he felt comfortable coming into the election despite having to face two seasoned politicians from BN and PKR.

"If you look at the past election results of other states, newcomers have in fact been welcomed by voters. So I don’t see a problem as such,” he told reporters here.

When asked how Pejuang would fare against three other major political rivals in terms of what can constituents expect, the Pejuang hopeful said voters were essentially looking for a representative that prioritises their welfare at the forefront.

He said constituents, regardless of their locality, are finding things difficult to manage due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

"I think, certainly when you go around Rengit and you speak to people and ask them, there is a sense of thing you can see that it's not business as usual’.

"We need to ensure a representative is there to articulate their concerns as to this particular issue where many have been economically affected,” Nizam said, adding that Rengit constituents were majorly made up of ordinary wage earners.

As to whether newcomers were welcomed, he noted that voters tend to feel short-changed if their representatives were found to be dishonest, untrustworthy and corrupted.

"In that regard if you look at the election results in terms of how newcomers are being welcomed, maybe that is a reflection of what people are looking forward to in that they want to see change and see better people standing forward,” he said.

Separately, Puad expressed confidence that he would emerge victorious in the four-way fight as he was a known personality in the area.

Owing to his tenure as former Batu Pahat MP, Puad said there was no denying that a BN representative was one who "fulfilled promises”, adding that he would continue the legacy set forth by its incumbent Ayub Jamil is also from Umno.

Puad also said he would be launching his own manifesto in the coming days which will encompass several changes such as better housing and welfare aid he would bring if he is elected.

He also dismissed criticism that he should have contested as a federal lawmaker instead of a state assemblyman as he merely wanted to be an effective representative for the people since he did not ‘crave’ positions in the federal government.

The Election Commission (EC) has set March 12 as polling day while early voting is on March 8.

MORE TO COME