He said this decision came after a discussion with Pakatan Harapan (PH), which has traditionally contested the seat.

But hours after this, Muda information chief Luqman Long denied this and reiterated that any announcement of candidates for the party will only be done by its election director, Amira Aisya.

He said seat discussions between Muda and PH had been completed and finalised yesterday, adding that Tapah would be contested by PH and not his party.

“Both parties are committed to avoiding any seat clashes between them. So any announcement that goes against this understanding is not an official one from Muda,” he said in a statement.

According to an Astro Awani report, Mutalib said his decision to contest the seat was also in line with PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli’s announcement that the Tapah and Sembrong parliamentary seats were still under discussion with other parties.

“Tapah is a rural seat and a Barisan Nasional stronghold held by human resources minister M Saravanan.

“To meet the battle cry of our party, which is ‘Muda fights Ministers’, I will stand in Tapah,” he said.