Several residents FMT spoke to said Hamzah, Perikatan Nasional’s candidate in Larut, was friendly and often on the ground to hear their grouses.

Fazri Zidan, who will be voting for the first time, said he was satisfied with Hamzah’s work ethic and did not consider his defection from Umno a major issue.

“I don’t look at the party but the individual, and I’d choose a leader who is responsible. For now, Hamzah is okay. He does his job.

“Though he might have hopped parties, maybe he did so for the people’s benefit,” the 24-year-old said.

The Selama local boy hoped the town, which borders Kedah, would see more development and be on par with other towns in Perak.

“Just setting up some new shops or businesses would be enough for us. At least youngsters like us would have job opportunities and won’t have to leave the district for work.”

One elderly couple, who wanted to be known simply as Abu and Hasnah, said Hamzah was a people-friendly leader who helped villagers. “We want him to continue being our MP.”

The couple, who were affected by recent floods in the area, said Hamzah, who is caretaker home minister, was among the first leaders to visit them and distribute aid.

However, one Larut voter who wanted to be known only as Ravi expressed disappointment with Hamzah leaving Barisan Nasional in 2018 after the coalition lost the general election to Pakatan Harapan.

The 60-year-old said voters had trusted him and voted for BN.

In the 2018 general election, Hamzah won the Larut seat on a BN ticket, beating PAS’ Abu Husin Mohamad and PKR’s Khairil Anuar by over 4,000 votes. After leaving Umno in December 2018, he joined Bersatu the following year.

The PN secretary-general is in a four-cornered fight to defend his seat.