KUALA LUMPUR – Amanah will be backing PKR in seats where their Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition member will be contesting against upstart youth party Muda.
Its communications bureau director Khalid Samad said in a statement today that they must back PKR, seeing that they are an official coalition partner, but will still support Muda in areas where the two opposition parties are not battling one another.
“It would be unfortunate if there are seat overlaps because PH has formed a cooperation with Muda early on. This situation will only benefit Barisan Nasional (BN) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) in those respective seats.
“However, Amanah must make its stance to face this possibility. For Amanah, PKR is our partner. Therefore, wherever there is an overlap between PKR and Muda in seats that have been given to PKR, Amanah will back PKR’s candidate.
“At the same time, in seats that Amanah has given to Muda, they must be seen as Amanah’s representatives and all PH parties, including PKR, must support Muda,” proposed Khalid as a diplomatic compromise.
Earlier today, PKR’s election machinery announced that they will not provide Muda with any assistance during the campaign period in Johor if the youth-led party insists on clashing in Larkin.
In a statement, Johor PKR chief Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh expressed disappointment over Muda’s decision to field a candidate in the Larkin seat.
He said he believed Muda would probably submit a candidate for Larkin since the party did not agree with the seats previously offered by PKR.
“I have to emphasise that Muda’s actions go against the principle of fighting our enemies together. Much worse, the move appears to hand over a win to our enemies.”
On February 9, DAP and Amanah agreed to grant Muda six seats. Amanah had surrendered four out of its 20 seats and DAP gave two out of its 16 seats.
The seats allocated for Muda are Tenang, Bukit Kepong, Parit Raja, Machap, Puteri Wangsa and Bukit Permai.
However, yesterday, Muda president Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman said that the party’s state information chief Rasid Abu Bakar will be vying for the Larkin constituency.
PKR and Umno have already announced their candidates for the seat, with Zamil Najwah Arbain representing the Pakatan Harapan component and Mohd Hairi Mad Shah fighting under the Barisan Nasional logo.
The seat currently belongs to Bersatu’s Mohammad Izhar Ahmad, who won the constituency in the last general election. – The Vibes, February 25, 2022
