Muda eyeing another seat down south

JOHOR BARU: Muda is expected to contest at least two seats in Johor in its national polls debut.

Apart from Muar, which its president Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman will be defending, there is talk that its co-founder Lim Wei Jiet will be gunning for Tanjung Piai.

Lim, who is a member of the Muda central executive committee, lost in his bid for the Tenang state seat in the March state polls.

The fledgling party made its electoral debut in the Johor polls then, contesting seven state seats and winning one.

Now making its maiden appearance in a general election, the youth-based party is hoping to contest 10 parliamentary seats in GE15.

Amanah is also said to be eyeing Tanjung Piai for its deputy president Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub or former Johor speaker Suhaizan Kayat.

It is unclear if last-minute horse-trading will result in Muda getting more seats.

Amanah is a component of Pakatan Harapan while Muda has applied to join the coalition and is hoping to work out an electoral pact with it.

For GE15, at least 10 seats previously contested by Bersatu have been distributed among Pakatan parties.

Overall, for Pakatan, PKR will be taking the lion’s share of 11 or 12 seats, DAP seven or eight, and Amanah five or six. There are 26 parliamentary seats up for grabs.

Salahuddin said he would leave it to the party to decide if he should defend his Pulai seat.

Asked if he would like to stand in Tanjung Piai, he replied only that he was a local from the area.

For Barisan Nasional, MCA’s Datuk Seri Dr Wee Jeck Seng and Umno’s Datuk Seri Razali Ibrahim are expected to face the two Muda candidates in the polls.