PETALING JAYA: Pakatan Harapan (PH) component parties will contest next month’s Melaka state election under the PH banner.
The coalition also said they had agreed on seat allocations, with PKR to contest in 11 seats, Amanah nine and DAP eight.
“Our decision for Melaka is that we have agreed to contest under the PH logo,” said PKR president Anwar Ibrahim today.
“All of us will contest with one logo, one stance and one manifesto.”
He was speaking at a joint press conference with other members of the PH presidential council – DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and Amanah president Mohamad Sabu.
The decision by the presidential council to use the PH logo also puts to rest some discord within the coalition in recent months over a proposal to use the PKR logo in the next general election (GE15).
Melaka goes to the polls on Nov 20, with a total of 28 state seats up for grabs. The nomination day is set for Nov 8.
It was previously reported that there were differences within the coalition over a unified logo for the election, with DAP leader Liew Chin Tong alluding to factions within PKR pushing for PH candidates to contest under PKR’s flag.
In a post on Facebook, Liew had said DAP and Amanah had pushed for the coalition to compete under the PH logo, like in the 2018 general election which it won.
While Anwar disclosed the number of seats each party would contest, he did not reveal which seats the respective parties would compete in.
However, he said the meeting to discuss seat allocation for the Melaka election also agreed on how many parliamentary seats each party would contest in the next general election.
He said PKR and Amanah would contest two seats each, like in the 2018 general election. DAP will also contest in two places, including the Alor Gajah parliamentary seat.
“Alor Gajah has traditionally been a DAP seat but we gave it up to Bersatu for GE14.”
Bersatu quit the coalition last year.
Meanwhile, the government’s move to ban ceramahs and public gatherings during the Melaka election campaign, from Oct 25 until Nov 27, has not gone down well with the PH presidential council.
The three party leaders said although they disagreed with the ruling as it would prevent candidates from campaigning on the ground, they had to comply with it.
Lim said the government should have discussed the move with the opposition bloc while Mohamad noted that the decision had left them uncertain as to how best to connect with the voters.
“Although we are very disappointed with these rules, we have been forced to tell our election machinery to comply with the SOPs to reduce the risk of Covid-19 infection,” Anwar said.
“So although we oppose it, we have no choice but to obey.”
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