Johor Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) state chief Mohd Azrol Rahani speaks to reporters at the Mida office in Japan Bukit Kempas in Johor, January 25, 2022. — Picture by Ben Tan
JOHOR BARU, Jan 25 — The Johor chapter of the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) said it is not desperate to partner with any political parties including those from Pakatan Harapan (PH) for the state election here.
Johor Muda chief Mohd Azrol Rahani said they have not been officially contacted by any parties to discuss cooperation for the state election.
He said this was despite rumours and news reports that Muda would forge a working relationship with PH.
“Yes, the earlier statement coming from PH was premature and one-sided.
“As of today, we have yet to be contacted by PH to discuss the matter in an in-depth manner,” Mohd Azrol said when met by reporters at the Johor Muda office in Taman Bukit Kempas here today.
He was accompanied by Johor Muda information chief Rasid Abu Bakar and coordinating director Azrul Ahmad.
Mohd Azrol said there have only been several informal meetings with Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) deputy president Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub, Johor Speaker Suhaizan Kaiat, state DAP vice-chief Sheikh Umar Bagharib Ali and the party’s deputy chief Teo Nie Ching.
“From the meetings, there has been no discussion on seat distribution or election strategy if we were to contest under PH.
“With that, we do not have a problem if we were to contest alone,” he said, adding that PKR has not in any way engaged Muda yet.
Mohd Azrol, who was confident that Muda could contest without any assistance from its allies, said that the party was still preparing for the election, including evaluating candidates for all 56 state constituencies.
“If Muda contests on our own, we are confident of winning several state seats in areas from the south to north of Johor.
“This will Include areas such as Johor Baru, Batu Pahat and Muar,” he said, adding that Johor Muda will not partner with Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), Perikatan Nasional or Barisan Nasional (BN).
He also said Muda would target at least 10 seats if it could form a partnership in Johor.
On January 22, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar agreed to sign the letter of dissolution of the Johor state assembly.
Yesterday, the Election Commission (EC) in a statement said it would meet on February 9 to set the dates for the Johor state election.
Rumours about a snap state election started shortly after the death of Bersatu’s Kempas assemblyman Datuk Osman Sapian.
His death, whose party is part of the ruling PN coalition, had put the current state government situation as a one-seat majority in the Johor state assembly.
Caretaker Johor mentri besar Datuk Hasni Mohammad and his coalition previously controlled 28 seats in the assembly while PH had 27.