Melaka 2021 polls: Perikatan to contest all 28 seats, hopes to speed up seat negotiations, says Muhyiddin

PAGOH: Perikatan Nasional will be contesting all 28 state seats during the Melaka elections next month.

Its chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said that they hope to speed up seat negotiations with PAS and Gerakan soon.

"We have no problems facing two or three or four-cornered fights in this election," he said after a one-day working visit to Bukit Gambir here Friday (Oct 22).

The Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia president was commenting on Umno's decision not to work with Perikatan during the upcoming state polls.

Asked on who Perikatan would field as its chief minister candidate if they captured the state, Muhyiddin was coy, but said they had many qualified candidates.

On whether the polls should be deferred due to the Covid-19 cases, he said that argument no longer arises.

He said the elections cannot be delayed as it is constitutional because after the governor had dissolved the state assembly, an election would need to be called within 60 days.

"Also, the Election Commission has met and agreed on a date.

"So I hope the commission will take note of what happened in the Sabah state elections and come up with the necessary SOP to contain and control the spread of disease and prevent a surge in cases.

"This can be done by limiting the movement of people during campaigning and also the use of social media or other online platforms during the election," he added.

In his speech at the event here, Muhyiddin said that as chairman of the National Recovery Council (NRC), he wanted to go to the ground to find out the problems faced by the people.

"One aspect is to take in foreign workers from Bangladesh or Indonesia as there was a manpower crunch as locals were not willing to work, especially in the plantation sector," he added.

He said that proper SOP was needed in place such as only bringing in workers who had been fully vaccinated with no underlying diseases, and had already undergone quarantine.

He also urged the state governments to speed up the formation of the state-level recovery council to address the issues within the respective states.