PARTI Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) is eyeing 12 state assembly seats in Malacca and has mobilised its machinery on the ground irrespective of what decision Putrajaya makes on the state polls, said its Alor Gajah information chief, Md Yusof Abdullah.

Yusof said PKR and its coalition, Pakatan Harapan, do not want an election.

It is Umno’s power play that has brought them to this situation, he said.
 
“It wasn’t us. But if there is an election we have to contest, we will work towards that,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

On October 4, four Malacca assemblymen announced that they had lost confidence in Chief Minister Sulaiman Md Ali and withdrew support for his leadership.

They are Sg Udang assemblyman and former chief minister Idris Haron, Norhizam Hassan Baktee (Pengkalan Batu), Noor Effandi Ahmad (Telok Mas) and Nor Azman Hassan (Pantai Kundor).

Malacca Governor Mohd Ali Mohd Rustam then dissolved the state assembly following a request by Sulaiman, paving the way for a state election which must be held within 60 days.

On October 8, Malacca Pakatan chairman Adly Zahari said a letter was sent to Istana Negara to seek the courtesy and wisdom of the king to advise Malacca Yang di-Pertua Negeri Mohd Ali Rustam to withdraw the decision dissolving the state legislative assembly.

However, in view of the Covid-19 pandemic, some have called on the Federal government to put the state under emergency rule which will then postpone the polls. Putrajaya is expected to make a decision on this soon.

“If we have to go for state elections, then PKR is ready. We have just activated our party machinery at Rembia in Alor Gajah. In the coming week, we aim to launch in three to four other areas,” Yusof said.

He said previously they had contested in eight state seats; this time, they are eyeing 12 seats.

“The seats we proposed are not from Pakatan but are former Bersatu seats. We hope that our request will not cause any issues with the other component parties.”

As for the candidates, Yusof said PKR president Anwar Ibrahim has asked the state chapter to submit a list of suitable candidates.

“He (Anwar) didn’t ask for the candidates because of this current issue. He asked for it six months ago.

“The candidates are in the process of being screened. There could be more than 30 potential candidates.”

Yusof said the party will evaluate them and the sole decision lies with the party president (Anwar).

On Saturday, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the ministry has prepared the standard operating procedure (SOP) for the Malacca election and is ready to discuss with the Election Commission (EC) if the polls are given the go-ahead.

He said the ministry is still waiting for the cabinet’s decision on the matter before the SOP is scrutinised.

Meanwhile, Malacca DAP chairman Tey Kok Kiew said seat negotiations are in progress with its partners in Pakatan.

“Even before this issue came up, we started the process of discussion for seats. So far, we have completed 80% (seat negotiations) for both state assembly and Parliament seats.

“We hope the top Pakatan leaders will finalise the list soon.”

He added that previously, they contested for one parliamentary and eight state assembly seats.

“We hope to contest more seats. We also hope the discussions (among Pakatan’s top leaders) will have a good outcome.” – October 13, 2021.