JOHOR BARU: Candidates representing Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) in the upcoming Pulai and Simpang Jeram by-elections must be Johorean, says Aminolhuda Hassan (pic).
The state Amanah chairman added that they had already conveyed to the party’s leadership that Johor-born individuals should be given priority as its candidates for the by-elections.
“Only the Pulai division has given its list of candidates and we are still waiting for the Bakri division to give their list for the Simpang Jeram state seat,” he said in a press conference after chairing a Johor Amanah meeting held on Sunday (Aug 7) night here.
Aminolhuda, who is also Sri Gading MP, added that they were hopeful to get the full list of candidates by Sunday (Aug 13), which is after the six state elections.
He added that the state Amanah would go through the lists and check the background of each candidate before handing it over to party leadership for endorsement.
When asked about possibility of Amanah fielding former Federal Territories minister Khalid Abdul Samad, who is also the party’s communication director, for the Pulai parliamentary seat, Aminolhuda said the list was not yet completed.
“It is up to our party leadership to decide on the matter. But Johor Amanah already made our stand very clear that candidates contesting in the by-elections should be local.
“We should not consider that both the Pulai parliamentary and Simpang Jeram state seats are safe seats for Pakatan Harapan as the political situation right now is different compared to the last election,” he added.
Aminolhuda also thanked Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is Pakatan chairman, and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is Umno president, for giving the two seats to Amanah.
On Thursday (Aug 3), Election Commission (EC) chairman Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Salleh announced that voters in Pulai and Simpang Jeram would go to the ballot box on Sept 9 to elect their new representatives.
Abdul Ghani added that the EC had fixed Nomination Day for Aug 26 while early voting would be on Sept 5.
The polls are expected to cost RM6mil, of which RM4.5mil would be to organise the Pulai by-election and RM1.5mil for Simpang Jeram.
The seats fell vacant following the death of Amanah deputy president Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub on July 23.
The late Salahuddin won the Pulai seat for the third time in the 15th General Election on Nov 19, 2022, securing 64,900 votes.
In the Johor state election earlier last year, he was returned as Simpang Jeram assemblyman with a 2,399-vote majority.
He passed away at age 61 after surgery for a brain haemorrhage.
He was also domestic trade and cost of living minister in the unity government Cabinet.
