JOHOR Amanah is still waiting for the full list of potential candidates for the Pulai parliamentary and Simpang Jeram state by-elections.

Johor Pakatan Harapan deputy chairman Aminolhuda Hassan said so far, the party has only received the name of one candidate for the Pulai parliamentary seat.

He reminded the Pulai and Bakri leadership to submit the full list of their proposed candidates by this Sunday. It will subsequently be handed over to the central leadership.

“We will get the list next week. This Sunday after the elections in six states have been completed, we will review the list again.

“What is important is that the candidates are new faces who have never contested the two seats. This is one of the criteria we have set,” he told a press conference after chairing the Johor Amanah coordination meeting last night.

When asked on speculation that party communications director Khalid Abdul Samad will be named as the unity government’s candidate for the by-election, Aminolhuda, the state Amanah chairman, said the central leadership will decide on this and his party would abide by it.

Commenting on news reports on the possible candidacy of the late Salahuddin Ayub’s daughter Siti Fatihah, Aminolhuda said the candidate will likely be a male.

“However, it is up to the central leadership. At the state level, we will list down the candidates we feel are qualified, of calibre and have integrity. What is important is that the candidate must be local to the area and a Johor native. But if the central leadership decides otherwise, we will take note of it,” he said.

The Election Commission has announced that polling for the two by-elections is on September 9, with nomination on August 26 and early voting on September 5.

The two seats fell vacant following the death of incumbent Salahuddin on July 23. – Bernama, August 8, 2023.