AMANAH has asked to field candidates in three seats in the federal territories (FTs) the general election as it was not allotted any in the region in the last polls, party deputy chairman Zaharuddin Othman said.

He said the party is eyeing Titiwangsa, Bandar Tun Razak, and Putrajaya.

“This is being discussed in Pakatan Harapan. This time there must be seats for Amanah in the FTs in the spirit of PH and for balance,” Zaharuddin told The Malaysian Insight.

Zaharuddin said the request is reasonable as Putrajaya and Titiwangsa used to be Amanah’s seats but the party had given those seats to Bersatu in the name of cooperation.

“As for Bandar Tun Razak, the incumbent Kamaruddin Jaafar has left PKR and joined Bersatu. So we intend to stand in Bandar Tun Razak because the seat is open.”

In the 2018 general election, PH won 10 of 13 seats in the federal territories. Another seat, Batu, was won by an independent candidate, Prabakaran Parameswaran who later joined PKR.

PH lost two of those seats when Bersatu defected to join the opposition in 2020.  Titiwangsa seat, which was won by Bersatu’s Rina Harun, is a Malay-majority seat. Voters are Malay (70.49%), Chinese (17.3%) and Indian (9.42%). The majority of voters in Bandar Tun Razak are also Malay (61.08%), Chinese (29.1%) and Indian (8.27%).

The Putrajaya seat, whose candidate was Bersatu’s Samsu Adabi Mamat, was lost to Umno leader Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor.

Zaharuddin, who is the Titiwangsa Amanah branch leader, is confident that PH will agree to the party’s wishes.

“The distribution of the seats will show strong unity in PH itself,” he said.

“PKR has five seats in the FTs, DAP has four and in the past Bersatu had two seats, but Amanah has no seats at all.

“And now with only three party components left in the coalition we feel Amanah needs to be taken seriously. Amanah does not wish for the same number of seats as others.

On Amanah’s chances of winning those three seats, Zaharuddin said the party had started work in those constituencies before the last polls.

He said it was the Amanah machinery that has helped Bersatu to win the Titiwangsa seat in 2018.

“Amanah did the work before GE14 as we expected to compete for the seat, but we had to give it up to Bersatu.

“It was the same in Titiwangsa. Bersatu did not have the machinery so they used Amanah’s.”

He said Amanah continues to work in those areas today, addressing numerous problems in the area.

Zaharuddin said the main issue faced by the voters is the rising cost of living.

“So we created programmes to help and we have three service centres in each of these seats.

Give us a chance

Bandar Tun Razak Amanah division chief Hayatul Kamil is confident the party would be able to better represent the voters if given the opportunity.

“Bandar Tun Razak seat is a hot seat because its two PKR MPs who were with us decided to ditch us,” Hayatul said.

“We need to change this. After all, PKR has won many seats and it’s time to give Amanah a chance.”

Hayatul said elected representatives who jump parties have disappointed the voters in the area.

“In GE14, PH won with a large majority of almost 20,000 out of 83,650 registered voters,” he said.

He expects the electoral roll in Bandar Tun Razak to grow by 120,000 in the next election.

However, he does not anticipate more young voters.

“Urban poverty is pressing issue for the people here. Bandar Tun Razak is among the areas with the most People’s Housing Programmes (low-cost housing).

Hayatul said the party has been working with civil society groups since October to provide food aid to the needy.

He said Amanah is planning to form a cooperative to enable the people to get cheaper daily essentials.

“That’s why we hope for Amanah to be able to represent Bandar Tun Razak. If we win, it will be easier for this cooperative to materialise.” – July 30, 2022.