Amanah bets on youth and new blood in 19-seat bid for Johor

JOHOR BAHRU, June 20 — Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) will field 13 new faces as part of its 19-candidate lineup under the Pakatan Harapan (PH) banner for the upcoming Johor state election.

Amanah president Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu said that only six or seven of the candidates are veterans of previous polls, with the remainder being newcomers.

He also noted that the majority of these candidates are locals, with half of the new faces being youth representatives and two being women.

“We (Amanah) will be contesting six seats in the northern part of Johor and five seats in the central part of the state. The remainder will contest in the eastern and southern parts of Johor,” Mohamad said during the launch of Amanah’s southern zone election machinery in Taman Universiti here last night.

Also in attendance were Johor Amanah chairman Aminolhuda Hassan, deputy chairman Dzulkefly Ahmad, and vice-chairman Suhaizan Kaiat.

While Mohamad stopped short of naming the specific individuals, the politician popularly known as Mat Sabu said the party would officially unveil the names during a scheduled PH event this Monday.

Addressing the crowd, Mohamad advised all PH component parties to refrain from internal disputes regarding the coalition’s final candidate list and stressed that unity is paramount to the coalition’s success.

“I acknowledge that there will be dissatisfied parties who will be resentful when the candidates’ names are announced. We need to put aside such differences and cooperate towards a shared goal to ensure that the PH candidate wins,” he said.

The call for unity follows reports that Amanah would abide by PH’s final decision on seat allocations, even if the contested Puteri Wangsa state seat is assigned to PKR.

Over the past month, Puteri Wangsa has emerged as a significant point of contention between the Johor chapters of PKR and Amanah. The highly-populated urban mixed seat was traditionally an Amanah stronghold but was temporarily allocated to the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) during the 2022 state election.

Following Muda’s exit from PH, both allies have laid claim to the seat, which is known for its strong track record of favouring progressive parties.

The Election Commission (EC) has set nomination day for the Johor state election on June 27, with polling day scheduled for July 11. The state legislative assembly was officially dissolved on June 1.