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Pejuang eyes 42 seats, solo battle in Johor election

Pejuang eyes 42 seats, solo battle in Johor election
Pejuang eyes 42 seats, solo battle in Johor election

Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang)'s electoral debut will see the Bersatu-splinter contesting 42 seats in the upcoming Johor state elections.

Johor Pejuang chief Sharuddin Md Salleh said the party has previously declared it would not be aligning with any pact and as such would be contesting on its own.

"The chosen candidates will be among youths, women, professionals, civil society groups, former state assemblypersons, former civil servants, business people.

"Names of the candidates will be finalised soon," said Sharuddin, as quoted by Harian Metro.

The Sri Gading MP added that priority for the seats and candidates will also be evaluated based on the level of Malay voters in each constituency.

At the same time, Sharuddin, a former Jorak assemblyperson while in Umno and Bersatu, said Pejuang remains open to cooperating with any parties in the state elections.

As a start, he said Johor Pejuang will be touring the state on Saturdays to introduce its logo, colours, and flags to the voters.

"So that more people will know about us," added the former deputy minister.

Formed by former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad after a fallout with Bersatu, Pejuang was formally registered as a political party last July.

Since then, Pejuang has sat out of fielding candidates during the last Sarawak and Malacca state elections.

Separately, newly formed Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) said it would be considering the viability of fielding candidates in the election.

While insisting the current pandemic situation is unsuitable to hold a state election, PBM information chief Zakaria Abdul Hamid said it would compromise its stand with a condition that tight standard operating procedures are in place, similar to the Malacca and Sarawak state elections.

"PBM's Supreme Council will be deciding soon including on the option of cooperating with the government bloc, in line with the party's support for the federal coalition," said Zakaria, a former PKR supreme council member who was sacked from the party.

He said PBM's participation will provide room for the party to introduce its core struggles based on The Great Reset 2030 with six agendas, including empowering women, economic development and developing youth leadership.

'Putra likely to sit out of Johor polls'

Meanwhile, Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia (Putra) president Ibrahim Ali said his party is unlikely to contest in Johor if the Election Commission (EC) imposes the same restrictions enforced during the Malacca and Sarawak polls.

The veteran politician said this was as the SOPs only worked to the advantage of the government parties.

"Why did BN win in Malacca? Because they 'used' the SOP.

"So, in Johor, they will also use the SOP like in Malacca. If they do use the (same) SOP there is no need for us to contest because we can't campaign," Ibrahim told Malaysiakini.

"The government parties have access to government agencies. They have voters data.

"We can't meet with voters. We can't even gather people for a ceramah," he said.

Putra made its electoral debut during the Malacca state polls last year but lost in all five seats it contested.

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Additional reporting by B Nantha Kumar.