'We've never excluded Nik Omar' - Salahuddin 

SHAH ALAM - Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) welcomes the decision of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) to announce Nik Omar Nik Abdul Aziz will be contesting in Perak in the 15th General Election (GE15) using the party's ticket.

Its Deputy President Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub said, Amanah never excluded Nik Omar from the party's nomination list in conjunction with GE15 when the name of the son of the former Pas Mursyidul Am, the late Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat was submitted to contest in Kelantan.

"We welcome PKR's announcement and Amanah congratulates Nik Omar for being nominated to contest in GE15 using PKR's own seat quota.

"There is no issue of him being excluded from Amanah because we have already held a special meeting to determine candidates for GE15 with his name already listed as a candidate to contest in Kelantan.

"I don't know PKR's real strategy to bring this religious figure to Perak, but we welcome it.

“Most importantly, Nik Omar will also contest on the Pakatan Harapan (PH) symbol," he told Sinar Premium on Wednesday.

The Pulai MP said this when asked to comment on PKR's decision to nominate Nik Omar, who is also the former Chairman of Yayasan Dakwah Islamiah Malaysia (Yadim) to contest in Perak using the party's seat quota in GE15.

Apart from Nik Omar, there were five more new candidates announced by PKR who would contest on Nov 19, which consisted of various fields of discipline and experience, including a candidate with a persons with disabilities (PwD) status.

Among them were former President of the Malaysian Youth Council (MBM) Julfitri Joha; former Deputy Director General of Public Services (Operations) Datuk Zainal Azman Abu Seman; former Vice Chancellor of Sultan Zainal Abidin University (UnisZa) Datuk Dr Hassan Basri Awang Mat Dahan; lecturer from the University of Malaya (UM) Dr Noraishah Mydin Abdul Aziz; the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Selangor Zakat Board Saipolyazan Yusop and the 28-year-old young candidate Fathin Amelina Fazlie.

In GE14, Nik Omar represented Amanah and PKR to compete in the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) seat of Chempaka, Kelantan but lost in a three-cornered fight at the hands of Pas candidate Ahmad Fathan Mahmood who is also the seat holder with a majority of 3,474 votes.

Meanwhile, Salahuddin also assured that Nik Omar's membership status in Amanah will not be questioned following PKR's decision to elect him to contest in one of the party's Parliamentary seats.