Straight fight as Johan quits race

By Clara Chooi - The Malaysian Insider

HULU BERNAM, April 19 — In a dramatic turn of events, Johan Mohd Diah, the second independent candidate in the Hulu Selangor by-election, has withdrawn from the contest
Ironically, just two hours before he withdrew from the race at about 7.30pm, Johan had just completed an hour-long interview to the media in Felda Sungai Tengi here, expounding on his strong will to serve the people.
He had even gone as far as to thank V. S. Chandran who was the other independent candidate in the race for withdrawing his candidacy.
“I thank him very much. At least now, it gives me a bigger opportunity in the contest because the votes will only be divided three ways instead of four,” he had said.

The last independent candidate in the Hulu Selangor by-election, Johan Mohd Diah quits the race, leaving the floor wide open for PKR and BN to duel it out. - Picture by Choo Choy May

He had also claimed he had never been approached with offers to pull out of the race, and would not accept such offers even if they were made. Before that, Johan who is a Shah Alam Umno committee member and is currently facing a sacking from the party, had also launched his operation centre at house number 338, Desa Maju, Sungai Tengi, and his “cangkul” (hoe) campaign symbol, which he said represented the farmers.
He also launched his blog site, http://talianjohanrakyat.blogspot.com/, and said that his main campaign method was through the typical walkabouts, buntings, and through the internet via social networking sites like Facebook and My Space.
“After today, I will embark on a more aggressive campaign style to plead for votes from Hulu Selangor constituents,” he said.
At 9.30pm tonight however, Johan personally turned up at the Election Commission operation centre in Kuala Kubu Bharu about an hour away, and filed his withdrawal paper with the agency.
The deadline for candidates to withdraw is by 12 midnight tonight.
EC deputy director Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar confirmed this with The Malaysian Insider at about 10pm.
“Yes, he submitted his paper at about 9.30pm. He has pulled out of the race and it is now a straight fight,” he said when contacted.
Johan’s withdrawal means that now, the contest will be solely between PKR’s Datuk Zaid Ibrahim and the Barisan Nasional’s P. Kamalanathan.
In his press conference earlier, Johan pleaded with the people of Hulu Selangor to vote for him, claiming that he was not a member of the “executive” or “corporate” group of people but was just a common man on the ground.
“I can better represent the views of the people here, especially the second generation of Felda settlers here. Unlike the other candidates, I am not from the executive group of people... I represent the larger community, which is the common man,” he said.
He pointed out that he used to work as a taxi driver, a factory van driver, and even an airport limousine driver for more than seven years of his life.
“I am now a businessman in the trading business,” he said. Johan added that of all the candidates, he was the one and only truly “local boy”.
“I was born here. My voting district is at Felda Soeharto. I studied in SJK Sungai Tengi and SMK Soeharto. People here know me well and support me... in fact they do not know me as Johan... they call me Apin,” he said.
Johan said that he was keen to focus on developing human capital from the Hulu Selangor constituency especially from the pull of second generation Felda settlers and the youths.
“This is why my main targets for support are the over 20,000 youths here, the 6,700 second generation settlers and of course, those who do not support the other candidates,” he said.
He added that he would also focus on drawing support from PAS and PKR members who were against the candidacy of PKR’s Datuk Zaid Ibrahim in the race.
“I will seek out their support,” he said.
Despite offering himself up as a candidate, Johan insisted that he still believed in the Barisan Nasional’s goals, principles and achievements.
“They have ruled us for over 50 years. I am very grateful to them and I still support them. However, I feel they have failed in the area of developing human capital in the constituency of Hulu Selangor,” he claimed.
Johan, a father of three children, added that he wanted to clear the stigma of Felda settlements being haunts for drug addicts.
“I want to clean that perception, that chop that the Felda people are addicts,” he said.
Throughout the press conference, Johan gave no indication of his intention to quit from the race.
After his withdrawal was made known tonight, Johan could not be reached on his mobile phone.