Loke Hopes For A United Opposition In Johor Points To Sarawak Setback

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With the clock ticking down towards the Johor polls, DAP national organising secretary Anthony Loke expressed that an arrangement can be made for the opposition to present a united front.
He cited lessons from the Sarawak polls last month which saw the opposition contesting against each other and paid the price for fragmenting the opposition votes.
"So, we hope a consensus can be arrived at to unite the entire opposition to face BN and PN," Loke (above) told journalists at an event in Seremban.
The Seremban MP said the Pakatan Harapan presidential council will meet today to determine its general direction for the Johor polls, although it will not discuss seat negotiations yet.
Amanah president Mohamad Sabu has also pushed for a united opposition ahead of the Johor polls.
Meanwhile, Johor PKR deputy chief Jimmy Puah indicated that his party is prepared to cooperate with Muda but the details need to be hashed out.
"In principle, we agree to cooperate but the extent of cooperation has not been determined," he said.
He stressed that discussions are still at the preliminary stages.
Puah also pointed out that PKR will be contesting more seats as Bersatu is no longer part of Harapan, giving the opposition coalition more room to negotiate with its allies and more seats to allocate.
Bersatu had contested 18 state seats in Johor during the 2018 general election when it was part of Harapan.
Johor ruler Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar last Saturday (Jan 22) consented to incumbent menteri besar Hasni Mohammad's request to dissolve the statement assembly, paving the way for fresh polls which must be called within 60 days.
The Election Commission (EC) will announce the election date in the near future.

Crowded field
Loke said he expected the snap polls to be held shortly after Chinese New year and criticised the timing.
He reminded that BN had in 2008 also dissolved Parliament at the federal level on the seventh day of Chinese New Year only to be punished in the resulting polls.
Hasni, who is from Umno, had called for the polls even though the BN-PN state government he leads does not face any threat to its hold on power.
The move is seen as an attempt to capitalise on the opposition's weakened position and also to oust PN from the coalition so BN can govern Johor alone.
On the establishment side, the two major coalitions that will face off in the Johor polls are BN and PN while the opposition is fragmented.
The main opposition force is expected to be Harapan but Pejuang has indicated that it also plans to contest in the election.
Muda and its strategic partner Warisan may also enter the fray.
This will also be the first election under the new voting age of 18, down from 21 and also the implementation of automatic voter registration.

- Mkini

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