STATE WANITA PKR HEAD TO STAND IN KEMPAS
Napsiah among five party leaders to contest seats in southern Johor
STATE Wanita PKR chief Napsiah Khamis Maharan was yesterday named as one of the party’s five candidates in southern Johor for the state election.
Napsiah, 42, will contest the Kempas (N47) seat, which was the seat held by the late Datuk Osman Sapian, who was also a former menteri besar from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia.
Also named was Johor Angkatan Muda Keadilan secretary Mohd Fakharuddin Moslim, 34, who will stand in Pasir Raja (N35); and Tebrau AMK treasurer Chiong Sen Sern, 32, who will contest Bukit Batu (N51).
Dr Zamil Najwah Arbain, who contested the Tanjung Surat state seat in the last general election, has been named as the candidate for Larkin (N44).
Gopalakrishnan Subramaniam will defend his Tiram (N40) seat.
The candidates were announced by PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at a hotel here yesterday.
PKR is expected to contest 20 seats in next month’s state election.
Anwar, who is opposition leader and Pakatan Harapan chairman, said identifying qualified candidates was tough.
He said challenging negotiations with Pakatan Harapan parties and other opposition allies added to the complications.
“We want to contest 20 seats but there are 2,000 people who are qualified and another 20,000 who are hoping to contest. In the end, we have to carry out our duty and name the candidates.
“Once the names are finalised, there is also the issue of when to announce them. Announce them too early, and some parties could claim certain seats, but if we announce too late then our campaigning would be affected, especially in the current Covid-19 situation.
“However, after considering everything, we decided to make the announcement early so that our machinery can start early.”
The Election Commission has set March 12 for polling, nomination day on Feb 26 and early voting on March 8.
The election is called after the sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, consented to the dissolution of the state legislature on Jan 22.
Following Osman’s death on Dec 21 last year, the state government’s majority was reduced to one seat.
At the time of dissolution, the state government held 28 seats and the opposition held 27 in the 56-member state legislature.
Umno and DAP held 14 seats each, Bersatu had 11, PKR had seven, Parti Amanah Negara had six, MIC had two and Pas had one.
Johor would be the fourth state, after Sabah, Melaka and Sarawak, to call a state election since the 14th General Election.