ISKANDAR PUTERI - Member of the State Legislative Assembly for Puteri Wangsa, Amira Aisya Abd Aziz, will not betray the mandate given to her by the people in the Johor state election last March.
The Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) deputy president stated that she will not vacate her seat, but instead intends to continue serving in Puteri Wangsa and assisting the state of Johor.
She emphasised that the people's mandate represents a promise and a shared struggle with the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition, as mentioned during the 15th general election (GE15) to combat corruption.
"The issue of this seat is, it is a mandate given by the people, and some say that the people's mandate was given on the PH ticket, but these are promises agreed upon to combat all forms of corruption, kleptocracy, and wrongdoing, promises that I still uphold to this day.
"So, if you say I need to vacate the Puteri Wangsa seat because I am going against these promises, I want to ask who should be vacating the seat now," she said at a press conference after the Johor State Assembly session in the Sultan Ismail Building, Kota Iskandar, on Thursday.
Last Tuesday, Johor Pakatan Harapan (PH) deputy chairman Aminolhuda Hassan, gave an option to Amirah of either joining Amanah or resigning and vacating the seat.
Amira Aisya said that Aminolhuda should remember the foundation and principles of the struggle between Muda and PH at the time were not just about gaining seats.
She said that the seats won by Muda, namely the Muar parliamentary seat and the Puteri Wangsa State Assembly seat, do not belong to any particular party but belong to the people.
"These seats belong to the people, and they decide, but what is most important are the promises we made to the people.
"That's why during the Johor state election, we talked about fighting corruption at both the state and federal levels. In my speeches during the general election, I mentioned our commitment to sending Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to prison.
"For me, it's not right if we've been preaching about that but ultimately, we ourselves go against our promises to the people," she said.