IPOH: There are no cracks between Pakatan Harapan component parties, says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The Pakatan Harapan chairman was responding to rumours after both Perak DAP and Perak Parti Amanah Negara announced their respective candidacies for Perak’s Changkat Jong state seat.
“The Changkat Jong state seat will be contested by DAP.
“About 10 days ago, both parties (Amanah and DAP) made a request to contest Changkat Jong, and although both presented strong arguments, we have decided to give the seat to DAP.
“The reason Amanah announced their seat at Changkat Jong was because they had presented it to the (Pakatan) council president earlier,” he told reporters in Kampung Ulu Chemor here yesterday.
“For Changkat Jong, Amanah gave a compelling case but DAP presented a strong argument.
“The decision was made after a discussion with several Pakatan electoral committee members, including Amanah president Mohamad Sabu and DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke.
“Give it one to two days. I am sure they will understand the party’s decision,” he said, acknowledging that time will help (soothe) any frayed nerves, if any.
On Friday, both DAP and Amanah announced their candidacy for Changkat Jong. Perak Amanah chairman Datuk Asmuni Awi announced Muhaimin Sulam as their party candidate in the morning, while Loke announced Badrul Hisham Badarudin as DAP’s choice in the evening.
Separately, Anwar said PKR will be contesting in the Tapah parliamentary seat, despite an apparently unsanctioned announcement by a Muda member.
“I was informed about the announcement made by a Muda member, and the party’s president, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, contacted me and said the announcement didn’t represent the party,” he said after a poster of Perak Muda chairman, Mutalib Uthman, contesting Tapah went viral.
“Tapah will be contested by PKR’s K. Saraswaty, while Muda has Muar, Tanjung Karang, Tanjung Piai, and more, which will be announced soon,” said Anwar, who also revealed that PKR will contest the Sembrong and Sungai Siput parliamentary seats.