I love Paya Rumput but tasked with regaining Sg Udang, says BN man

Umno’s Rais Yasin says he holds Paya Rumput close to his heart, despite leaving the constituency to contest the Sungai Udang seat in the Nov 14 Melaka state election.

The Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate said he had been coordinating the state government’s initiatives for Sungai Udang for three years now, after BN lost the seat to Bersatu by 530 votes in 2021.

“I actually really love Paya Rumput, but having been entrusted by the party with regaining Sungai Udang for BN, I cannot take this responsibility lightly,” he told FMT.

Rais said serving as the state government’s Sungai Udang coordinator over the past three years helped him understand the people’s needs and local issues, including those involving the armed forces community.

More than 9,000 of the 29,692 voters in Sungai Udang are members of the armed forces or their spouses.

The Tangga Batu Umno chief said he had wanted to contest the Sungai Udang seat since the 2021 Melaka polls, and that he conveyed this to party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

However, he said then Tangga Batu Umno chief Ali Mohamad was given priority as he wanted to contest the seat as well. Rais was subsequently fielded in Paya Rumput instead.

“The division chief at the time was given priority. Additionally, Paya Rumput was considered a tough seat because I was facing PKR’s (then Hang Tuah Jaya MP) Shamsul Iskandar Akin.

“Thankfully, voters gave me a chance, and I managed to win with a slim majority.”

Rais defeated Shamsul, his closest contender, with a 629-vote majority in a four-cornered contest.

He was then appointed a state executive council member under the Sulaiman Ali administration before being promoted to senior exco member under chief minister Ab Rauf Yusoh in April 2023.

This time around, Rais faces a three-cornered fight in Sungai Udang, a Malay-majority seat, where he will be up against Bersatu’s Abdullah Mahadi and Bersama’s Ridzuan Abdul Rahman.

Sungai Udang had been an Umno stronghold since its creation in 1974, but Perikatan Nasional (PN) wrested the seat in the 2021 polls through Dr Aleef Yusof, then from Bersatu.

Aleef later joined Wawasan but the PN component was not allocated the seat, prompting initial protests from him.

BN and PN have formed an alliance for the Melaka polls, under which BN will contest 23 seats and PN will vie for the remaining five.

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