JOHOR BARU: With Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia out of Pakatan Harapan, the coalition’s remaining three component parties will each be contesting more seats in the upcoming state election.
Parti Amanah Negara president Mohamad Sabu said Amanah and PKR would take on 20 seats apiece while DAP would contest 16 seats.
During the 2018 polls, Bersatu, which was part of Pakatan then, took the lion’s share with 18 seats, followed by DAP (14) while PKR and Amanah vied for 12 seats each.
Mohamad said the seat allocation was finalised in the Pakatan presidential council meeting on Wednesday.
“Though the seats have been decided, we are open for discussions with any parties that want to work with Pakatan in the upcoming polls.
“If they have a winning chance, Pakatan will have a joint discussion before deciding,” the Kota Raja MP told a press conference after a meet the people session with Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Abdul Karim in Permas Jaya yesterday.
Mohamad said Pakatan was willing to consider working with the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) and Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang).
State Amanah chairman Aminolhuda Hassan said they had finalised the list of candidates, pending the approval of the party’s central committee.
“Out of the 20 seats, six are retained while the other 14 are new faces, including young candidates,” he said.
Both DAP and Bersatu were spotted having an early start to get closer to the voters by handing out free fruits at the Taman Pelangi morning market yesterday.
Visitors there were amused by the sight of a team clad in red (DAP) and the other in blue vests (Bersatu) handing out goodies side by side.
Incumbent Stulang assemblyman Andrew Chen Kah Eng, who gave out 300 pineapples, said it was “pure coincidence” that a Bersatu team was also there giving out mandarin oranges.
“This shows that all parties, from opposing sides, care about the rakyat. This is a good sign,” he said.
Asked whether he would be defending his seat in the upcoming polls, Chen said it was up to the party’s top leadership.
Johor Baru Bersatu division chief Bakar Ali, who gave out the oranges, said he wanted to take the opportunity to get closer to the Chinese community as they are crucial to his party’s victory.
“Actually, we do not want a state election as it is untimely following the pandemic and the sluggish economy.
“But since the state assembly has been dissolved, we can only do our best to face the state election,” he said.
