JOHOR BARU: With nomination day tomorrow, it appears that eleventh hour attempts to avoid clashes are likely to be futile, as Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) is set to lock horns with PKR at least in the Larkin state seat.
Other than Larkin, Muda president Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman announced that his party would contest in Machap and Parit Raja.
“Muda will continue to negotiate (with PKR) until the eleventh hour, using all available avenues.
“We will let the people decide the fate of Muda in Johor,” he told a press conference here yesterday.
State Muda information chief Rasid Abu Bakar, 28, will be contesting in Larkin while state deputy chief Sangaran Rawi Sandiran, 32, will be contesting the Machap seat.
Recently, PKR announced Zamil Najwah Arbain as its candidate for Larkin. Zamil had contested the Tanjung Surat state seat during the 14th General Election (GE14) in 2018 but lost.
In GE14, Bersatu contested the Machap and Parit Raja state seats, but lost both to Umno.
Muda’s Fikri Musa will contest the Parit Raja seat but the 28-year-old was not present during the announcement because he tested positive for Covid-19.
Meanwhile, Syed Saddiq said Muda wanted to minimise the problem of overlapping seats and thanked DAP and Amanah for reaching a consensus on seat negotiations with them.
He also said Muda always respected PKR.
“We want to focus on seats won by Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia and Barisan Nasional.
“What I want to do now is to focus on what we can do for the people of Johor,” he added.
The Muar MP said Muda would be releasing its election manifesto soon.
It was reported that the party would be fielding central executive committee members Lim Wei Jiet and Nurafiqah M. Zulkifli at Tenang and Bukit Kepong, respectively.
Johor Muda chief Mohd Azrol Rahani will contest the Bukit Permai seat.
During GE14, Bersatu won Tenang, Bukit Kepong and Bukit Permai.
Last week, Johor PKR chief Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh said discussions with Muda were over and PKR would contest 20 seats.