Pakatan top leaders will decide Puteri Wangsa seat dispute, says PKR sec-gen

JOHOR BAHRU, June 19 — PKR and Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) leadership will hold talks soon to resolve a dispute over the Puteri Wangsa state seat ahead of the Johor state election.

PKR secretary-general Datuk Fuziah Salleh said the matter has been sent up to the top leadership of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) component parties for resolution.

“The issue has been handed over to the top leadership of the component parties to be resolved.

“The previous claim that the issue was resolved was made by Amanah, that maintained that the Puteri Wangsa seat belonged to them,” she told reporters during a Rahmah Madani programme at the Econsave Supermarket in Taman Daya here today.

Fuziah, who is also the deputy minister of domestic trade and cost of living, was commenting on the ongoing dispute between the two PH parties.

Yesterday, Amanah strongly objected to the Puteri Wangsa seat being handed over to PKR in the upcoming state election.

Johor Amanah vice-chairman Zuhan Zain reportedly said the party has never made any decision or agreement to hand over the seat to PKR.

He said Johor Amanah has made early preparations and has its machinery ready to reclaim and defend the Puteri Wangsa state seat.

The Puteri Wangsa seat has long been a point of contention within Johor PH and has become a power struggle between PKR and Amanah.

In the past, the seat was traditionally allocated to Amanah, but it was temporarily given to the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) during the 2022 Johor state election.

Following Muda’s split from PH, both PKR and Amanah have laid claim to the seat for the upcoming Johor polls.

The Election Commission has set nomination day for the Johor state election on June 27, with polling set for July 11, following the dissolution of the state legislative assembly on June 1.

The Johor state assembly has 56 seats. Prior to dissolution, Barisan Nasional held a supermajority of 40 seats, followed by PH with 12, Perikatan Nasional with three and Muda with one.