[ad_1]
KOTA KINABALU: PKR President Anwar Ibrahim is scheduled to be in Sabah today to launch the party’s electoral machinery ahead of the 16 state elections.
The launch is expected to be grand, involving other high-level party leaders as well, and is expected to emphasize your intention to do everything possible for these elections.
Political analyst Tony Paridi Bagang said PKR is sending a clear signal that it is fully ready.
“I think this is on his (Anwar’s) agenda. By going down to the ground, he is showing all his support for his party and his partner Pakatan Harapan (DAP), and also for Warisan and Upko, ”he told FMT.
Bagang also said that this launch will push the other parties to have a great show of their own soon.
“Warisan Plus (the Warisan, PH and Upko alliance) is not a formalized coalition. Having a big launch of their electoral machine is another way to pressure Warisan and Upko to do the same as soon as possible. “
But political observers said that in addition to bolstering support for PKR and the Warisan Plus parties, Anwar’s presence is also expected to bolster the party’s hopes of securing more seats in the upcoming elections.
With the negotiations for seats between the parties still to be finalized, PKR hopes that Anwar will help his aspirations to contest more than the nine state seats he ran for in the last general election.
There will be 73 seats up for grabs in this election compared to 60 in GE14.
Bagang said there were several seats that PKR had wanted in the last general election, but had to give up in a compromise with Warisan.
“Therefore, there is a high possibility that PKR wants to claim these seats,” he said.
Party insiders told the FMT that they hope the PKR chairman will make seat allocation one of his priorities in discussions with other Warisan Plus parties.
Party sources said that among the seats PKR wanted are the seats of Inanam and Moyog, which were won by former PKR vice president Kenny Chua and Jenifer Lasimbang, respectively.
Since then, Chua has left to link up with the opposition.
The seat was won by PKR in two consecutive general elections (2013 and 2018).
Warisan wanted the seat in 2018, but made a commitment by letting PKR defend Inanam. It is said that Warisan now wanted the seat back due to Chua’s defection.
PKR also contested in Api-Api, Kadamaian, Tempasuk, Karanaan, Matunggong, Tamparuli and Kuala Penyu in the general elections of May 2018.
