MELAKA: Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has expressed his disappointment at Masjid Tanah MP Datuk Mas Ermieyatie Samsudin for allegedly betraying the mandate given by voters in the 14th General Election (GE14).

       The Barisan Nasional advisory board chairman said although he did not wish to speak ill of her, he said that Mas Ermieyatie, who is contesting the Tanjung Bidara seat in the upcoming Melaka state election, was one of the first to jump parties after GE14.

       “I wish her all the best. But I do hope the voters in that area will pick someone who has no track record of betraying voters’ mandate,” he said in an interview with The Star.

       Mas Ermieyatie, who is a Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, is in a three-cornered fight against her mentor, Melaka Barisan chief Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusoh, and Pakatan Harapan’s Zainal Hassan.

       The former Puteri Umno chief, who won the Masjid Tanah parliamentary seat in GE14, jumped to Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia in December 2018, saying that she would serve her constituents better under her new party.

       On the campaign restrictions in the Melaka polls, the former Umno president said: “In my opinion, the restrictions hit all parties equally. In Malay it is called ‘pukul rata’.”

       “Barisan will now have to leverage more on the mass media and especially on social media, which the coalition had adapted to during the 22 months of the Pakatan government when mainstream media was not very friendly to us,” he alleged.

       Najib added that the new electoral standard operating procedure (SOP) errs on the side of caution, though it appears contradictory when compared to other SOPs related to religious gatherings, business events and conferences, which he believed would likely to draw equally big crowds.

       On Barisan’s chances in Melaka, he said he remained hopeful, adding that under the coalition, Melaka’s economic growth was actually higher than the country’s average.

       “However, when I was there recently, the people told me that the local economy slowed down visibly post-GE14.

       “After hearing that, I went back to check the data from the Statistics Department, and true enough, this local sentiment was reflected in the official data,” he said.

       In 2016, the Melaka economy grew 5.5% versus 5.1% for Malaysia. In 2017, Melaka grew 8.3% vs 5.9% for Malaysia. But from 2018 to 2020, Melaka’s growth dropped to 3.8%, 2.9% and negative 5.9%, compared to 4.8%, 4.3% and negative 5.6% for Malaysia.

       Najib said he is fighting hard for the reinstatement of the KL-Singapore high speed rail (HSR) project as Melaka will be among its top beneficiaries if the railway connects with Singapore.

       “We have put this into our Melaka manifesto as we believe this will give an immediate injection into the local economy as the HSR solves two problems in one go: how to stimulate high-value tourism and also reduce traffic congestion.”