JOHOR BARU – Muda has until Sunday to respond to PKR’s offer on three seats for the upcoming Johor election, as negotiations between the two parties continue to drag on.
Johor PKR Wanita chief Napsiah Khamis Maharan revealed that her party was not agreeable to the seats initially requested by Muda and had offered three other constituencies in return, but has yet to receive an answer.
Napsiah stopped short of naming the seats in question, but said those sought by Muda had formerly belonged to Bersatu.
“They did ask for certain seats, but we did not agree. We have offered them other seats, but they haven’t given us a response and have remained silent.
“We will give them until Sunday to make a decision. Our offer stands until then,” she told The Vibes today, but did not specify what will happen beyond the deadline.
Seat distributions between the two political outfits in the past week have been met with challenges, with both PKR and Muda leaving little wiggle room for negotiation.
On Wednesday, Johor PKR chief Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh said the party has already offered three seats to Muda, but the latter claimed PKR has yet to finalise its offer.
Earlier, Amanah and DAP had already agreed to offer Muda a total of six seats to contest, namely Tenang, Bukit Kepong, Parit Raja, Machap, Puteri Wangsa and Bukit Permai.
Strange for Muda president not to ask for Muar seats: Napsiah
Napsiah revealed that Muda had not requested to contest in the Sungai Balang state seat under the Muar federal constituency, currently allocated to PKR, which she said comes as a surprise considering Syed Saddiq is the MP there.
“We found it peculiar that Syed Saddiq did not ask for seats in Muar,” she said.
Napsiah also pointed out that there is the possibility of renegotiations between Muda and PKR, after the former expressed intention to return the Puteri Wangsa state seat to Pakatan Harapan (PH).
The contentious seat currently held by Bersatu was initially offered to Muda by Amanah, but did not sit well with PKR after the party conducted extensive work in the constituency since the Sheraton Move in February 2020.
“I think there will be a re-negotiation on the seats after Muda said it will be giving Puteri Wangsa back to PH,” she said.
Muda’s comments on PKR unlikely to jeopardise election prep: Johor PKR chief
When contacted, Syed Ibrahim also kept mum on the seats currently being negotiated with Muda out of respect for his fellow opposition party.
“It is still ongoing. We have identified the seats, but negotiation is not finalised yet. Let’s keep it that way at the moment.
“We don't want to jeopardise the negotiation process, and I feel both Syed Saddiq and I feel the same way. When we have finalised, we will give more details.
On Muda’s recent online attacks on PKR and PH amid ongoing seat negotiations, Syed Ibrahim said this is unlikely to jeopardise the parties’ preparation for the Johor election.
He said all parties involved are currently in a strategic partnership, but declined to comment on PKR’s future relationship with Muda, saying it is still too early to comment.
“We have to take one step at a time. Things are quite dynamic. At the moment, we are just looking at how we can all take advantage of winning this election.
“Of course, I have read those comments (by Muda) and we are looking into them. But we have to assess the situation carefully.”
Last Saturday, Syed Saddiq had accused Tiram assemblyman and Johor PKR vice-chairman S. Gopalakrishnan of neglecting the welfare of his constituents before apologising for doing so.
In a separate incident on Wednesday night, the party’s Kedah chapter had uploaded a graphic insinuating that PH and its component party PKR are working behind the scenes with rivals Barisan Nasional and Perikatan Nasional.
Muda information chief Luqman Long issued an apology yesterday, saying the post was shared without approval and done in bad faith. – The Vibes, February 11, 2022
Additional reporting by Amar Shah Mohsen
