Let Wawasan keep what it won in Melaka, Hamzah tells Umno ahead of state polls

JASIN, Oct 18 — Wawasan will defend the seats won under Perikatan Nasional (PN) in the coming Melaka state election, just as Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) plan to, its president Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin said.

He said that if Umno wanted to keep the seats it won, the same principle must apply to Wawasan, Berita Harian reported last night.

“Both the Opposition assemblymen, or former assemblymen, in Melaka are Wawasan members,” he was quoted as saying after chairing the party’s supreme council meeting here. 

“So if Umno says it wants to defend the seats it won, why won’t it let me defend the ones we won?” 

Hamzah, who is Larut MP, said Wawasan was open to discussing seat swaps if BN wanted constituencies that Wawasan was holding.

“If they want a particular seat, that’s possible… but I’m telling you we want to defend ours.

“They have to sit down with us to discuss suitable seats, ones that can decide victory for either PN or BN,” he said.

Hamzah also dismissed talk that Wawasan would contest only the Paya Rumput state seat as speculation, without confirming how many seats the party would field candidates in.

Media reports had earlier said Wawasan was almost certain to be given Paya Rumput, with its Tangga Batu division chief convenor Ramlan Meon, 40, tipped as a possible candidate.

Berita Harian reported that this could hurt the chances of former Sungai Udang assemblyman Dr Mohd Aleef Yusof and former Bemban assemblyman Dr Mohd Yadzil Yaakub.

Both won their seats on PN tickets in the 2021 state election before leaving Bersatu for Wawasan.

Melaka will head to the polls on November 14 with nomination, which also marks the official start of campaigning, on October 31. 

Early voting is on November 10.