KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 1 — Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) deputy president Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu said voters wanting stability have real choices in the 15th general election other than Barisan Nasional.

In an interview with Malay Mail, the Bersatu leader who goes by Peja also said that BN’s anchor party, Umno, has strayed from its roots as its members were more interested in enriching themselves than helping Malaysians.

"This is the problem with Barisan Nasional; they believe that to keep the government stable, it has to be them. This is not 1960’s, 1970’s or 1980’s when Umno leaders really worked for the rakyat.

"Today, they work for themselves, they work for their own people and their cronies. This is why we can’t support Umno leaders and Barisan Nasional,” he said during the interview at his office in Sri Hartamas here.

He added that today’s Umno was an exclusive club that was inaccessible even to the party’s members, as only leaders were looked after.

Ahmad Faizal clarified that he was not suggesting that stability was not important in order for the country to grow, but saying that this would not not come from BN.

"Not only BN can bring you stability, Perikatan Nasional can bring you proper stability,” he added.

Defending Tambun

Counting down to the GE15 campaign, the incumbent Tambun MP reiterated that he was not intimidated with having to defend against Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

He said he believed voters in Tambun would prefer a local representative rather than "nomad” politicians. Anwar was departing Port Dickson that he won for the first time in 2018 in favour of Tambun this year.

Ahmad Faizal said that because of his jovial nature, the public sometimes wrongly thought of him as incapable of being serious, but said the people Tambun knew better than this.

Still, he credited his easy demeanour with allowing him to be close and accessible to his constituents.

"I believe that there is so much more for me to do (in Tambun), I have a very good relationship with village heads, the mosque and the temples.

"People keep on talking about big names such as Anwar Ibrahim or even the Umno division chief but let’s stop talking about these nomad politicians who come and go, because they will not benefit the people and I believe that the people in Tambun will decide what’s best for them,” he added.

On October 20, PKR president Anwar confirmed rumours that he would contest the Tambun federal seat, going up against Peja.

In an early walkabout of the constituency on October 27, he said that his contest with Peja was not personal, saying their families were close friends.

He added that the decision to contest in Perak was part of Pakatan Harapan’s aim to win back the state and Putrajaya.

In GE14, Ahmad Faizal won Tambun on a PKR ticket in a three-cornered fight against Barisan Nasional (BN) and PAS candidates, polling 38,661 votes for a 5,320-vote majority and going on the be appointed the mentri besar.

Ahmad Faizal, who is also Perak PN chairman, said anyone was welcome to contest the Tambun seat and hoped the campaign would be conducted fairly.

After he received a royal pardon, Anwar won the Port Dickson parliamentary seat with a 23,560-vote majority in a seven-cornered contest in a by-election in October 2018. He was previously the MP for Permatang Pauh.