Gerakan urges PN unity ahead of Johor, Negeri Sembilan polls

KUALA LUMPUR: Gerakan’s current focus is to ensure that Perikatan Nasional remains united ahead of the Johor and Negeri Sembilan state elections.

Its president, Dominic Lau, said the coalition should prioritise preparations for the Johor state election on July 11 and the Negeri Sembilan polls on Aug 1, and resolve any internal challenges through discussions.

“We are still in PN, and the priority now is to ensure that the coalition stays together and does not split,” he said at a press conference after a Gerakan central committee meeting at Menara PGRM here today.

“We want to face the Johor and Negeri Sembilan state elections with the strongest possible advantage. The biggest advantage is when everyone is in the same team.”

Lau said Gerakan, which had proposed contesting up to six seats in the Johor election, wants to contest seats that it has a realistic chance of winning.

“There is no point in contesting many seats, only to end up losing all of them,” he said.

He said PN would hold a meeting on Monday to discuss preparations for the two state elections, including seat allocations among the component parties.

Tensions have emerged in PN after PAS decided to sever ties with Bersatu on June 8 on grounds that Muhyiddin Yassin’s party had become power-hungry and was no longer prioritising Malay-Muslim unity.

Bersatu has since pledged to go all-out against PAS in the two state elections, while insisting that it will contest under the PN banner.

On Wednesday, PN chairman Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar relieved the coalition’s deputy secretary-general, Azmin Ali, and election director, Radzi Jidin, both from Bersatu, of their duties.

PN was founded shortly after Muhyiddin was appointed prime minister in February 2020 following the collapse of the federal government led by Pakatan Harapan, which Bersatu used to be a component of.

The coalition comprises PAS, Bersatu, Gerakan and the Malaysian Indian People’s Party.