INTERVIEW | Bersatu candidate for Pekan, Zahid Md Arip, has been warned by his friends that bad things can happen to him if he ran against BN leader Najib Abdul Razak.

However, Zahid said that this has not dissuaded him from accepting his party's instructions to be fielded as a candidate to unseat Najib - the 10-term Pekan MP.

"People have been asking me why am I contesting in Pekan? They advised me not to challenge Najib. They reminded me about my safety. They warned me about how I would be a victim of a bomoh from India.

"But to me, I always hold the belief that everything can only happen by Allah's will," he told Malaysiakini.

Zahid, 52, is the grand nephew of former deputy prime minister Ghafar Baba. He was once a PKR member and later rejoined Umno. He is now a Bersatu central committee member.

Ghafar didn't seek riches

In August last year, Zahid was arrested by the MACC in connection to improprieties concerning Felda. He was never charged.

Zahid expected his arrest to be made an election issue, but he believed that doing so will only work in his favour.

He said he was held by the MACC for nine days and his house was ransacked.

"My detention is just a political game. They ransacked the cabinet and my house but found nothing," he said.

On the other hand, Zahid said his opponent faces the ignominy of being called a "kleptocrat" worldwide.

"If I wanted to be rich, I would have joined them but I am a man of principles as that is what Ghafar had taught us.

"Have you heard Ghafar bid for big contracts or that he is filthy rich? When he passed on, he was an ordinary man. He cared for the country, unlike Najib. He did not go for titles," he said.

Pekan folks don't want a kleptocrat

Zahid said that a statesman must be well-respected and not have to face ridicule worldwide. It is for this reason that Zahid had decided to take on Najib.

"Najib is being ridiculed all over the world as he is described as a kleptocrat and a thief. All this is because of his actions which had shamed the nation. Is he fit to lead the country?

"My contest with Najib in this general election will be looked at closely as I am battling someone known throughout the world as a kleptocrat and a thief.

"I feel the people of Pekan does not deserve a kleptocrat and a thief," he said.

Zahid believed that he and Najib have equal chance to win in Pekan because he has “5,011 campaign strategies” at his disposal.

For starters, Zahid said his experience working in Felda allowed him to explain to Felda voters, who form a huge portion of Pekan voters, the problems faced by the agency in recent years.

"I will raise questions for Najib to answer every day during the campaign period. If he is sincere, he will have to answer," he said.

New jobs?

Zahid said he will also expose deficiencies in BN's pledge to create three million jobs should they win the upcoming polls.

He said over the past five years, under Najib's watch, MAS had laid off 6,000 people, while many major factories and hypermarkets had folded.

"They promised to create jobs last time, but the reality is people are losing jobs. Now, they are promising three million new jobs.”

Zahid said he was confident that Pekan voters were smart enough to see through Najib's promises and handouts.