SEREMBAN: Negri Sembilan Amanah wants the Pakatan Harapan presidential council to support its bid to defend the Lenggeng seat in the Aug 12 polls, says state chief Datuk MK Ibrahim Abd Rahman.
He said this is crucial following a claim by Umno that its candidate will be representing the unity government in the constituency won by Amanah in the 2018 general election.
"Amanah has been a loyal friend all this while in Pakatan.
"Although we support collective decisions, we do not want Amanah to be belittled or neglected.
"So we hope the presidential council will uphold the fact that Amanah will contest all seats it won in the last general election, which include Lenggeng," he told reporters at the state Amanah office here on Wednesday (July 19).
Ibrahim said the party leadership has also decided on its candidates for the Lenggeng, Klawang and Paroi seats during a meeting on July 13.
"Amanah has to be allowed to defend Lenggeng to ensure there is a balance in party representation in Negri.
"After all, we have only three seats compared to DAP, which has 11, and PKR, six," he said.
On Monday (July 17), state Pakatan chief Datuk Seri Aminuddin Harun said the coalition was in the dark over which party would be contesting the Lenggeng seat.
Aminuddin, who is also caretaker Mentri Besar, said the state Pakatan has not received any indication from its presidential council on the matter.
His comments came following an announcement by Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan on Saturday (July 15) that Barisan Nasional will be contesting 17 seats in the state election.
These include the 16 seats it won in the last general election and Lenggeng, which was won by Amanah.
On July 14, Ibrahim refuted talk that the party had agreed to this.
Amanah, he said, was not questioning the credibility of its allies in the unity government but was merely asking to be allowed to defend Lenggeng.
"Even our party president (Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu) supports our view.
"Also, we are clueless as to why Umno is claiming the Lenggeng seat although nothing official has been announced by the party leadership," he added.
