PETALING JAYA: PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has hinted that they, together with Parti Amanah Negara, might each take one of the four former Melaka assemblymen who caused the fall of the state government.

       He added that they would decide tonight and would make an announcement on Saturday (Nov 6).

       Anwar claimed that the four assemblymen had defected from their party to return the mandate to Pakatan Harapan, although noting that there may be those who might disagree with this view.

       He added that the issue of party hopping did not arise, as they were no longer state assemblymen.

       "They need a new mandate, so it will be up to a party whether to accept them or not," he said during a press conference on Zoom on Friday (Nov 5) night.

       The assemblyman were Datuk Seri Idris Haron (BN-Sungai Udang), Datuk Nor Azman Hassan (BN-Pantai Kundor), Datuk Norhizam Hassan Baktee (Independent-Pengkalan Batu) and Datuk Noor Effandi Ahmad (Bersatu-Telok Mas).

       DAP had previously rejected accepting the four former assemblyman and even declared that it would not accept controversial Norhizam contesting under Pakatan Harapan.

       Melaka DAP vice-chairman Khoo Poay Tiong said that Norhizam would be a liability to Pakatan.

       Anwar clarified that the candidate negotiations were being done by the leadership in Melaka and did not involve the party's central leadership.

       "Since they (Melaka leadership) are in agreement, we had expressed our concerns but in the end, we decided to agree," he said.

       Anwar added that they had a long discussion with representatives from DAP and Amanah in the Pakatan Harapan presidential council.

       "We respect each other in many issues and sometimes we have a few concerns but we have an understanding that whether we are in agreement or not, we will still move on together as the fundamental issues of fighting against corruption and the abuse of power are in unison," he said.

       Earlier, DAP had announced they would maintain their six incumbents while introducing two new faces for their Melaka state election candidates.

       The Melaka State Assembly was dissolved on Oct 4, after the four assemblymen withdrew their support for Chief Minister Datuk Seri Sulaiman Md Ali.

       The Election Commission (EC) has set Nomination Day for the election on Nov 8.

       Polling day for the election will be held on Nov 20, while early voting will take place on Nov 16.