ROMPIN: Pakatan Harapan candidate for the Tioman state seat Mohd Fadzli Mohd Ramly is ready to make way for Barisan Nasional candidate Datuk Seri Mohd Johari Hussain, if directed by the coalition’s top leadership.

Mohd Fadzli said the matter had been discussed at the Pakatan presidential council level taking into account the current political situation at the central and Pahang State Assembly level, but no decision had been made so far.

"Perhaps after this, there will be further discussion about seat negotiations involving the Padang Serai (parliamentary seat) and the Tioman state seat because Padang Serai is important for us to increase our numbers in Parliament. However, the Tioman state seat is no less important.

"So far, I have not been informed of any directive, especially from the presidential council about our position here. So we will conduct our campaign as usual,” he told Bernama.

The 15th General Election (GE15) results saw Barisan winning 16 seats in Pahang, one seat behind Perikatan Nasional (PN) while Pakatan secured eight seats, which resulted in a hung state assembly as no party or coalition obtained a simple majority of 22 seats.

Even though he is ready to make way, Mohd Fadzli wants the Barisan candidate to give assurance that he will solve the problems faced by the Tioman islanders, especially involving water, land and infrastructure.

However, Mohd Fadzli said that he has yet to meet Mohd Johari, who is the incumbent Tioman assemblyman, to discuss the matter.

Polling for the Tioman state seat for GE15 was postponed following the death of Perikatan candidate Md. Yunus Ramli on polling day (Nov 19).

Apart from Mohd Fadzli and Mohd Johari, other candidates vying to win the Tioman state seat are Perikatan candidate Nor Idayu Hashim, Osman A. Bakar (Pejuang) and Sulaiman Bakar (Independent). - Bernama