Amanah Unveils Johor Line Up Replacements For Defectors To Pkr

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JOHOR POLLS | Amanah today unveiled their Johor election candidates line-up, including in three seats which the party had won but their incumbents defected to PKR.
Amanah Youth secretary Asim Abdullah Ainullofti will contest in Serom, Johor Amanah vice-chairperson Abdul Hamid Jamah will stand in Senggarang, while Muhammad Taqiuddin Cheman, who won in Pulai Sebatang in the 2018 general election, will be moved to the riskier seat of Mahkota.
They replace Khairuddin A Rahim (Senggarang), Muhamad Said Jonit (Mahkota), and Faizul Amri Adnan (Serom) who left Amanah for PKR between 2020 and 2021.
This will put to rest the possibility of the defected incumbents recontesting through a seat swap arrangement or being re-accepted into Amanah.
The announcement was made at Thistle Hotel in Johor Bahru this morning.
Apart from Asim in Serom and Abdul Hami in Senggarang, the party is fielding four other new faces for the Johor election.
They are Elia Nadira Sabudin in Bukit Pasir, Norazila Sanip in Penawar, Ahmad Daniel Shahrudin in Panti and Rohani Banu Abd Rahman Krishnan in Kahang.
The youngest candidate is 32-year-old Mohammad Fakhrulradzi Mahmud, who is standing in Endau, while the oldest is 66-year-old Mat Khairi Samsudin, who will contest in Sedili.
Six of Amanah's nine incumbents were retained, either in their existing seats or being moved to a new one.
The candidates' line-up also comprised four women and three youths.
Amanah will be contesting a total of 16 seats after being reallocated some of the seats from Bersatu, which is no longer part of Pakatan Harapan.
It was initially allocated 20 seats but agreed to surrender four seats - including the relatively safe seat of Puteri Wangsa to Muda. There are a total of 56 seats in Johor.
Suhaizan Kaiat, the former Johor speaker who was supposed to represent Amanah in Puteri Wangsa, will now contest in the more vulnerable seat of Pulai Sebatang.
The full Amanah candidates list are as follow:
Sulaiman Mohd Nor (Kemelah)
Elia Nadira Sabudin (Bukit Pasir)
Asim' Abdullah Ainullotfi (Serom)
Salahuddin Ayub (Simpang Jeram)
Nor Hayati Bachok (Maharani)
Aminolhuda Hassan (Parit Yaani)
Abd Hamid Jamah (Senggarang)
Muhammad Taqiuddin Cheman (Mahkota)
Rohani Banu Abd Rahman Krishnan (Kahang)
Mohammad Fakhrulradzi Mahmud (Endau)
Ahmad Daniel Shahrudin (Panti)
Mat Khairi Samsudin (Sedili)
Penawar (Norazila Sanip)
Syed Othman Abdulla (Permas)
Dzulkefly Ahmad (Kota Iskandar)
Dzulkefly Ahmad (Pulai Sebatang)
Unable to reach agreement with Muda
Speaking to journalists after the announcement, Amanah deputy president Salahuddin Ayub, said he is hopeful that PKR will also be able to work out a deal with Muda.
"I believe that whatever the situation is, the Harapan spirit can be translated if there is enough time (to negotiate) before nomination day.
"To the respective parties, I am confident that they can resolve it in an amicable manner," he said.
Johor PKR chief Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh, at a forum last Wednesday (Feb 16), said PKR was unlikely to offer seats to Muda after an agreement could not be reached but said they will still champion the same cause in the opposition.
PKR was only willing to offer the Umno strongholds of Sri Medan, Semarang and Benut, while Muda was only willing to take one of the three but wanted Gambir and Larkin.
PKR has already announced Johor PKR secretary Naim Jusri in Gambir and Zamil Najwah Arbain for Larkin.
Harapan faces an uphill battle at a time of voter disillusionment over the collapse of the Harapan federal government in 2020 and Covid-19 campaign restrictions.
It is also the first election where automatic voter registration is introduced as well as a lower voting age of 18, down from 21 - substantially increasing the voter base.
Johoreans will go to the polls on March 12. The nomination day has been fixed for Feb 26. - Mkini

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