MERSING: Mersing Member of Parliament Datuk Dr Abd Latiff Ahmad has confirmed that he will not be contesting in the Johor state election scheduled for March 12.

Instead, the Bersatu lawmaker said he wanted to focus on his duties as the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Special Functions) as well as Mersing MP.

"However, I will give my full commitment to assist the Perikatan Nasional (PN)'s election machinery to ensure victory of the party candidates.

"I also call on the people of Johor, especially the 700,000 first-time voters to fulfil their voting responsibility and make a wise choice," he said in a statement today.

Dr Abd Latiff who is the five-term MP for Mersing was formerly with Barisan Nasional before joining Bersatu in Feb 2019.

-- BERNAMA