In a meeting with the Muar Umno division today, Zahid said all these reports about Barisan Nasional (BN) possibly losing the seat were not accurate, based on his own observations after arriving in the Johor town today.
“Our candidates are extraordinary. But if you cannot win, then you might as well go jump into the well,” he said referring to Muar incumbent Razali Ibrahim and the candidates for the state seats under Muar.
In a remark alluding to Razali’s opponent from PPBM, Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman, Zahid said a good debater does not mean he knows how to serve the people well.
“Sometime back, someone said he wanted to contest here (Muar), but he didn’t dare to.
“We know he has a lot of relatives here so we must ensure continuity for Razali.
“We want people to choose dark blue (biru tua), not an old candidate (calon tua),” Zahid said in a veiled reference to former prime minister and current opposition leader Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is 93.
He then urged Umno members in Muar to treat the 14th general election (GE14) the same way they did when they were pushed to the corner in the 2013 general election.
In a press conference following his meeting with the Muar Umno members, Zahid said Prime Minister Najib Razak had done more in the past nine years than what Mahathir had done in his 22 years as prime minister.
“For example, Najib repealed the Internal Security Act (ISA). Mahathir instead used the ISA and I too was one of the detainees.
“Mahathir also created many cronies who benefited from his privatisation projects,” he said.
Zahid added that there were subsidies now that did not exist during Mahathir’s time.
“Under Najib, the government created subsidies for the education sector, among other things.”