JOHOR BARU: Johor Pakatan Harapan has set up a special committee to present 10 proposals to the state government for the state Budget 2022, which is expected to be tabled at the end of November.

       State PKR deputy chief Jimmy Puah Wee Tse, who was leading the committee, said that they would have their first meeting on Thursday (Oct 28) to discuss the 10 proposals before handing it over to the Johor government.

       "We have informed Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Hasni Mohammad about Johor Pakatan’s interest in working together with the state government for Budget 2022 and he has given a positive response.

       "We want Pakatan to be involved in shaping the Budget for the people of Johor," he said at a press conference at the Tebrau PKR branch office here on Tuesday (Oct 26).

       He added that among matters that would be highlighted in the proposal were issues of housing, youth, women as well as small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

       "We will come out with the proposal in the meeting on Thursday. Once it has been finalised, we would hand it over to the state government for their consideration," he said.

       On another matter, Puah also urged the government to re-evaluate its decision to ban all physical election related gatherings and social activities in Melaka ahead of the state general election.

       "About 70% of the people in Melaka are those living in the rural areas and they may not have access to the Internet. It does not make sense to depend solely on online platforms.

       "Instead of giving a blanket ban on these activities, the government could consider allowing it based on certain conditions with the appropriate SOP in place," he said.

       He said that it was important for the people to know the politicians they are voting for in order for a proper democratic process to take place.

       On a related matter, Puah also said that the Johor PKR grassroots would not support any move to allow the four state representatives who triggered the collapse of the Melaka state government to contest in the election under Pakatan’s ticket.

       "PKR is a party that had previously been affected by party hoppers and we would not want to have them contesting under the Pakatan ticket," he said.

       Puah was referring to Datuk Seri Idris Haron (Sungai Udang), Datuk Norhizam Hassan Baktee (Pengkalan Batu), Datuk Nor Azman Hassan (Pantai Kundor) and Noor Effandi Ahmad (Telok Mas).

       The four were allegedly given a warm welcome during an event, which did not augur well with DAP who had openly declared that it would object to Norhizam contesting under Pakatan's banner.

       The Melaka state polls will be held on Nov 20 and Nomination Day will be on Nov 8.