PEKAN (Nov 17): It was a rainy afternoon at Kampung Sawah, a village that sits by Sungai Pahang Tua within the Pekan constituency, but this did not stop people here from leaving their homes to attend a meet-and-greet event with Datuk Mohd Nizar Najib, the eldest son of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and grandson of the much loved Tun Abdul Razak Hussein.

Nizar is standing under the Barisan Nasional ticket in the Peramu Jaya state seat, which is part of the parliamentary constituency of Pekan, held by both his father and grandfather for decades.

With Najib unable to contest because of his criminal conviction, the baton has now passed to Nizar, the eldest son from the former PM’s first marriage.

At the makeshift BN centre in Kampung Sawah, which was lined with wooden panels with flooring and wooden pallets paved over the mud, the scion of the Razak family was met with fervent support from the villagers.

“We will still give him (Nizar) our full support, 100%,” said a resident in Kampung Sawah, which has 190 voters of the 41,381 total voters in Peramu Jaya.

“Why was [Najib] the only one being charged? It was an injustice to him and his family, I hope he will be pardoned soon, he has done so much for the country and for us here [in Kampung Sawah],” he continued, accompanied by nods from other residents.

Opening the session, Kampung Sawah Umno branch leader Omar Salleh introduced the Peramu Jaya candidate as “Datuk Seri Najib’s waris (heir)”. He quipped, to applause, that Nizar’s arrival in the village was as if Najib has returned.

Nizar told the villagers: “If he (Najib) gets the news that [BN] won Peramu Jaya, the Pekan parliamentary seat, Bebar, Chini, Pulau Manis, I am confident he will rise again to defend himself and God willing, at the end of it, free himself.”

In the fight for Peramu Jaya, Nizar faces Pakatan Harapan’s Tugimon Abdul Hamid of PKR, PAS’ Cikgu Talib under Perikatan Nasional (PN), and independent candidate Tengku Datuk Hashim.

In GE14, BN’s Datuk Seri Mohamed Puzi Sh Ali won the Peramu Jaya seat with 15,433 votes, a 7,182 majority over PAS candidate Abu Kassim Manaf. Mohamed Puzi is now contesting the Pekan parliamentary seat.

In an interview with The Edge, Nizar appeared confident that BN will continue to defend Pekan and Peramu Jaya, given the coalition’s more extensive election machinery in place as compared to its opponents.

“We have a much more extensive network of branches, machineries and more experienced personnel compared to the other parties, but I wouldn’t underestimate them,” he said at Sri Kenangan, the Razak family’s residence in Pekan, which the family uses as a home whenever they visit.

The family estate has two houses. One is homely but empty of life, furnished but seemingly unblemished. The other is traditional, timeless, and serves as the campaign command centre.

Nizar, an accountant, highlighted that Pahang is one of the few states to withstand the “2018 tsunami against BN” in GE14.

“So I think it is going to be difficult for PAS, it would take something special to topple [BN in] Pahang. I don’t expect [PAS to take over Pahang], but politics is never predictable, but it's not good for us or good for me if the [BN] Pahang government falls,” he added.

Pekan is a solid Umno/BN stronghold, with Tun Razak, who passed away in 1976, first winning here in 1959.

With Najib’s absence from the political stage, Nizar, 44, has taken on the Razak family mantle. Although he aspires to eventually be a parliamentarian, he accepts that he has to take it step by step.

“[They are] very big shoes [to fill], I feel so tiny. I like to take it one step at a time, as the thing with politics is that it is a very highly uncertain business, you obviously don’t know how far you can go,” he said.

When questioned why he was entering politics now, Nizar said this was not the playbook he penned. He initially planned to contest in a general election only after Najib retires, which was thought to be years away, but his conviction changed things.

“It's very tough, it's a big blow to the family. We (the Razak family) all are very saddened by what happened to him (Najib) because it's a miscarriage of justice," Nizar said, repeating what has been the position of the family and supporters.

"I strongly feel that a lot of things were not right with the trial, that is why we are filing for the [judicial review of the Federal Court’s decision],” Nizar added. “If all else fails, then we have no choice, we have to file for a [royal] pardon. But it is what it is, we have to carry on.”

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