JOHOR BARU: Early negotiations for the impending Johor election will only involve the three parties under Pakatan Harapan, says Parti Amanah Negara deputy chairman Suhaizan Kaiat.
He said that while Amanah has had some discussion about seats within the party, official negotiations among the three parties under Pakatan have yet to begun.
"The three parties will discuss and divide seats among ourselves first.
“If it is later confirmed that we will contest with Barisan Nasional, we will then renegotiate the seats with them.
“We are not sure about that (whether Pakatan will contest with Barisan),” he told reporters when met during his Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house.
He said this includes Puteri Wangsa and Kota Iskandar, two state seats speculated to be eyed by both Amanah and its partner PKR.
Suhaizan, who is also the Pulai MP, said this when asked if Pakatan would contest with Barisan in the state election.
Asked if other parties, including the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda), have expressed interest in joining forces with Pakatan for the election, he said they have yet to receive such a request.
“I’m not sure about the federal level, but for now, we don’t have that (interest from other smaller parties) in Johor,” he said.
The unity government under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at the federal level had yet to be formed when the previous Johor state election took place in March 2022.
In the election, Barisan won 40 of the 56 seats, while Pakatan secured 12, with DAP winning 10 and PKR and Amanah one each.
Perikatan Nasional won three seats — two by Bersatu and one by PAS — while Muda also won one seat.
