AMANAH is realistic about its chances in the general election. It intends to run only for seats that it stands a real chance of winning, but its pragmatism has upset some party members hoping to see the party field more candidates.

It was announced at yesterday’s Pakatan Harapan convention that Amanah would contest 27 seats in the next polls –  eight short of what many party memberswere hoping for, and the fewest among the four coalition partners.

The party’s restraint is borne of lessons learnt in the 2016 Sarawak elections, which saw Amanah losing all the 13 seats it had contested. The party also performed badly in the Kuala Selangor and Kuala Kangsar by-elections the same year.

The Johor and Perak units of Amanah, however, had baulked at the number of seats allocated to the party, and boycotted the PH convention over the weekend in protest. 

Amanah Johor was allocated two parliamentary seats out of the state’s 26, while the Perak unit will be contesting four out of the 24 parliamentary seats.

But the biggest shocker for party members was that Amanah would not be contesting in Kuala Lumpur in GE14.

The revelations prompted Federal Territory Amanah chairman Dr Mohamad Hatta Ramli to resign from his posts, including that of national party election chairman.

Johor and Perak aside, Amanah has been allocated seats in Kedah (3), Penang  (1), Selangor (5), Malacca (1), Negri Sembilan (2), Pahang (1), Terengganu (3) and Kelantan (5).

The party was also not allotted parliamentary seats in Perlis.

In an immediate response to Amanah’s seat allocation, party president Mohamad Sabu said he was confident of winning all the seats.

“InsyaAllah, we will win all (the seats),” he said.

Amanah communications director Khalid Samad said there was “high potential” that the party would win all of the seats it had been allocated.

“The number of seats we contest is important. But, the number of seats we win is more important,” Selangor Amanah communications director Jamzuri Ardani wrote on Facebook.

In the Sarawak state elections, Amanah contested in 13 seats. Its candidates lost their deposit in all seats except for Gedong, Semop, Balingian, and Kakus.

In the past, Amanah’s mistake was to contest far too many seats when it had expected to win only one or two, party leaders admitted.

Party supporters voiced encouragement for disappointed party members last night.

“Asked for 35 (seats), got 27. That’s a success rate of 77%! Don’t be too demanding,” said Abu Bakar Rashid, a close friend of Mohamad, on Facebook

“Personally, Amanah WP doesn’t need to feel down. There is a blessing here. Let’s bring PH to victory at Putrajaya first,” wrote Mai Suharah Basaruddin, an Amanah WP, activist on Facebook.

“Once we have won, there will be many positions in the federal territory which Amanah WP will need to fill and influence.” – January 8, 2018.