Rauf told FMT he did not think her candidacy would put him at a disadvantage or sway Tanjung Bidara voters into voting for the Masjid Tanah MP come polling day.

The Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate said the announcement was just “a carrot dangled in front of voters” to entice them to support PN, adding that he did not expect it to be effective.

“They can announce a lot of things but Tanjung Bidara voters know who their leader is. The whole of Masjid Tanah watched when she won (on a BN ticket) but left the party (Umno).

“I don’t think the people of Tanjung Bidara want to make the same mistake again,” he said.

Rauf and Mas Ermieyati, who is also the deputy law minister, are in a three-cornered fight for Tanjung Bidara, one of the hottest seats in Saturday’s state election, with Pakatan Harapan fielding PKR’s Zainal Hassan.

The seat was won by Umno’s Md Rawi Mahmud in the last general election, with the BN candidate winning with a 2,864 majority.

PN chairman Muhyiddin Yassin earlier announced that Mas Ermieyati would helm the state government should the coalition win the state election.

BN has named Sulaiman Md Ali as its chief minister-designate while PH chose Adly Zahari.