‘Mandatory’: Khairy tells Umno and BN voters to back PAS in Bukit Katil

MELAKA, Nov 8 — Fewer than seven months after Umno formally welcomed him back, Khairy Jamaluddin is on the Melaka campaign trail telling Barisan Nasional (BN) supporters to vote for a PAS candidate.

The former Umno Youth chief said BN voters in Bukit Katil must back the PAS candidate there under the electoral understanding between the two sides, the New Straits Times reported today.

“Send word to our friends, for example in Bukit Katil, because there is a PAS candidate there and we did not field a BN candidate,” he was quoted saying at a campaign stop in Duyong.

“Over there, it is mandatory for Umno and BN voters to give their support to PN-PAS,” he added.

PN stands for Perikatan Nasional. The coalition’s legal status has been in doubt since the Registrar of Societies cancelled its registration on October 20 following a complaint by Bersatu, a decision the High Court stayed two days later pending a judicial review that the government is appealing.

Khairy said discipline at the ballot box had to be shown wherever seats had been conceded to partner parties.

Duyong, where PAS is not contesting, was the mirror image, he said, with the Islamist party’s machinery and supporters expected to deliver their votes to BN candidate Datuk Mohd Noor Helmy Abdul Halem.

“In areas where PAS is not contesting, such as in Duyong, on behalf of BN and Umno, I am asking for help in the spirit of cooperation and consensus of the Malay-Muslim community, to support our candidate number two, Datuk Helmy, and other candidates from Umno and Barisan Nasional,” he was quoted as saying.

He added that ground readings across Melaka showed joint coordination taking place down to voting district centres and branches, signalling that machinery on the ground was aligned with the seat-sharing strategy.

Khairy was expelled from Umno in January 2023 for breaching party discipline during the 15th general election, and was readmitted unconditionally on April 17 this year under the Gagasan Rumah Bangsa initiative.

Under the Melaka arrangement, BN is fielding 23 candidates, including 18 from Umno, leaving the remaining five of the 28 seats to PAS and its allies, with polling on November 14 and early voting on November 10.