KUALA LUMPUR – Perak Muda chief Mutalib Uthman is now eyeing to run in a rural seat held by a minister for the 15th general election (GE15).
Confirming that he will not be contesting the Tapah parliamentary seat in GE15, Mutalib said he will instead look to uphold Muda’s election goals and contest rural seats held by incumbent ministers.
“A PKR candidate will be fielded in Tapah. I will be contesting in GE15, but not in Tapah. Instead, I will be fielded in a rural seat held by a different minister,” he said in a Facebook post late last night.
Tapah has been a MIC stronghold since the seat was created in 1986, with its incumbent Datuk Seri M. Saravanan, who was human resources minister, managed to defend the seat for three terms since the 2008 general election.
Mutalib also apologised for the premature announcement of his candidacy in the Tapah seat yesterday, which caused some confusion leading to Muda information chief Luqman Long clarifying hours later that the seat will be left to Pakatan Harapan (PH) parties.
In denying Mutalib’s candidacy in Tapah, Luqman reiterated that any announcement of candidates for the party will only be made by its election director Amira Aisya Abd Aziz.
The apparent U-turn came after Mutalib said in a now deleted post that his candidacy was a result of discussions with PH, which traditionally contested the seat.
On October 29, Muda announced the first three parliamentary seats that it would contest in the coming 15th general election, namely Kepala Batas, Tg Karang, and Tg Piai. – The Vibes, October 31, 2022
