PETALING JAYA: Parti Amanah Negara sees no problem with the Penang state government in holding snap elections despite PKR’s apparent reluctance.
However, Amanah information chief Khalid Samad (pic) said any decision whether or not to hold fresh polls in the state should not be taken unilaterally.
“Personally and in principle, I don’t see any problem (with snap polls) because there are many factors that are favourable to us if the elections are held now,” he said Tuesday.
One of the factors is popular support for Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng amidst the corruption charges against him.
“We all know that the action against Lim is politically motivated. And we should take the advantage of this rising popularity.
“Then we can ensure that we will keep Penang under Pakatan for the next five years. We don’t know what Barisan Nasional has up its sleeves,” he said.
Although the move could be disadvantageous to Amanah, the Shah Alam MP said it would be an opportunity to introduce the PAS splinter party to the people of Penang.
“Even though Amanah does not have any state exco members in Penang, being involved in the state elections will be good for us as it gives us the opportunity to tell the people what our party is all about,” he said.
Khalid said the ultimate decision would still be with the presidential council, which he said will meet “soon”.
On Monday night, Lim had announced that Amanah was supporting DAP’s proposal to hold snap polls in Penang.
PKR has yet to make its decision, amid talk on the ground that it fears losing some seats in mixed constituencies.
It is understood that the party will hold its meeting Tuesday night.
DAP has 19 seats in the state assembly, PKR 10, PAS one and Barisan 10.
PAS, which is no longer part of the Pakatan coalition, is expected to field more candidates, creating multi-cornered fights against Barisan.
Barisan leaders said although they are against the proposal for snap elections, they are prepared to put up a fight in their bid to wrest back the state from the Opposition coalition.-thestar
