THE Pakatan Harapan (PH) leadership was against the move to field Idris Haron and Nor Azman Hassan as candidates under the coalition banner in the Malacca elections, but gave in following persuasion from PH Malacca leaders, said Anwar Ibrahim.

The PKR president said the names of the former Umno members were brought to PH national leaders by Malacca PH leaders.

“DAP rejected it, I was against it and Mat Sabu (Amanah president Mohamad Sabu) did not agree. However, after several meetings, we were persuaded to accept Idris and Nor Azman.

“We will now form an independent committee to look into this.”

The Malacca elections were called after four assemblymen – Idris (Sungai Udang), Nor Azman (Pantai Kundor), Norhizam Hassan Baktee (Pengkalan Batu) and Noor Effandi Ahmad (Telok Mas) – pulled support for Chief Minister Sulaiman Md Ali.

Barisan Nasional (BN) clinched a two-thirds majority after winning 21 of the 28 state seats in the polls.

PH contested in all 28 seats, with PKR standing in 11, Amanah (9) and DAP (8). PKR lost all 11 seats to BN, DAP won four and Amanah, one.

PKR information chief Shamsul Iskandar lost in Paya Rumput, while Idris lost in Asahan.

Due to the crushing defeat, Anwar has been criticised for accepting the two ex-Umno men and asked to vacate his opposition leader post.

The Port Dickson MP said the calls for his resignation are opinions and reminded coalition members to be more respectful.

“We cannot be too arrogant. What was said to me, I take it as an opinion.

“However, we have to look at various factors. We have to look at the facts, which, in this case, we, at the PH leadership level, were persuaded by the state chapter to accept Idris and Nor Azman.”

Amanah’s Hanipa Maidin and DAP’s Lim Kit Siang have defended Anwar, saying that it is not the latter’s fault that the coalition lost in Malacca. – November 23, 2021.