JOHOR BARU: Pakatan Harapan should not be too engrossed in naming their Johor Mentri Besar candidate, says PKR lawmaker Hassan Abdul Karim.

       The Pasir Gudang MP questioned whether naming their mentri besar candidate was really that important.

       "If Pakatan, which comes from PKR, Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) and DAP, wants to win the Johor election, then my advice is not to be too engrossed in naming our mentri besar candidate.

       "Racing with each other to name their candidates, like what happened in the Melaka, will only annoy Johoreans," he said here on Wednesday (March 2).

       Hassan added that the people only wanted one thing, a concrete plan to address the high cost of living here in Johor.

       He said the people have no interest in wanting to know who the mentri besar candidates coming from party A, party B, or even party C.

       "The price of daily necessities, especially the price of food items, which are too high now, has reached an unbearable level for the common people.

       "This is the real issue, not the issue of who is being nominated as mentri besar," he added.

       On Tuesday (March 1), Amanah deputy president Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub said Pakatan presidential council would meet soon to discuss its Johor mentri besar candidate for the upcoming state election.

       The Pulai MP, who was defending his Simpang Jeram state seat in a four cornered fight, added Pakatan had yet to decide on the name but declined to elaborate.

       Salahuddin had been touted as one of the front-runners for Pakatan's choice of chief minister.

       Another name mentioned was Simpang Renggam MP Dr Maszlee Malik, a former education minister, who was contesting in Layang-Layang.

       Polling day has been fixed for March 12 with early voting on March 8.