A possible PH-PN cooperation? Amanah's chief says no way

SHAH ALAM - Amanah communications director Khalid Samad dismissed any possibilities of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition to cooperate in any form with Perikatan Nasional (PN) or any of its component parties, including coalition linchpin, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) in the Johor state election.

Khalid said the PH presidential council, of which he is a member, have made the decision to work with the opposition bloc however draw the line of helping PN and any other government parties.

“We are willing to work with other opposition parties like Pejuang or Muda but not anyone from Perikatan as they are part of the government,’’ he said briefly to Sinar Daily.

In terms of the seat allocation for PH, Khalid had previously stated PKR and Amanah will each contest 20 seats respectively while DAP will contest 16.

“Any other opposition parties wishing to cooperate with PH will need to directly discuss with the component party contesting in the same seats,’’ he said.

In a previous interview with Sinar Daily, Khalid also stated that PH will not tolerate or cooperate with parties they deemed responsible for the infamous Sheraton move that has led to the collapse of the PH administration in 2020.

Khalid also has made it clear that PH does not abide to the politics supposedly subscribed by the likes of Datuk Seri Azmin Ali and Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin, both federal ministers attached to Bersatu.

Azmin and Zuraida were among 11 PKR lawmakers who had defected from the party and joined with 26 other lawmakers from Bersatu at the time to form the PN administration along with rival Umno and PAS.

For context, multi-corner fights are expected in all 56 state seats of the upcoming Johor state election.

In a separate interview, PKR communications director Fahmi Fadzil also echoed Khalid's sentiment and stressed that PH will not work with people who they deemed were the cause of such political and economic turmoil that was triggered by the Sheraton Move.

“The Sheraton Move have led to a loss of trust among Malaysian voters. It has also led to this situation in the country where there is so much political and economic instability.

“I pray to god that Malaysia does not ever face this issue ever again,’’ he said.

Khalid and Fahmi’s comments were mainly based on cohesion with the coalition and both men had dismissed allegations of growing division in PH after PKR decided to use their own logo.

There have also been reports that Bersatu leaders have laid two sets of plans to face rival BN and Umno in the coming state election.

One would be to work with PKR and Amanah under PH without the DAP while another plan constitutes for Bersatu to pull their support for the current government.