“We’re politicians, so we need to be magnanimous in the face of an even bigger challenge,” the Johor Amanah vice-chairman told FMT.

Suhaizan was commenting on a report that Amanah and DAP had agreed to hand over six seats to Muda, one of them being Puteri Wangsa. The coalition had won the constituency twice in the past.

Amanah had initially named Suhaizan as its candidate for Puteri Wangsa.

The decision to hand over the seat to Muda earned the ire of Johor Wanita PKR which argued that the opposition coalition should hold on to a “winnable” seat like Puteri Wangsa.

Meanwhile, PKR deputy information chief Manivannan Govindasamy called on Muda to return the seat to PH in the “spirit of friendship”, adding that the party’s grassroots were unhappy with the decision.

Commenting on the brickbats, Suhaizan said everyone should respect the decision as both PH and Muda had the same objective – to topple Umno.

“That’s their personal view,” he said, referring to the dissatisfaction voiced by some, “and everyone is entitled to it. But what is important is for us to defeat Umno.”

In the 14th general election, Mazlan Bujang of Bersatu – which was then part of PH – won the seat by a majority of 24,959 votes.

The Johor elections will be held on March 12.