Perikatan Nasional (PN) Information Chief Tan Sri Annuar Musa has urged all parties to preserve straight fights in the Negeri Sembilan state election, warning that any attempt to create multi-cornered contests would only weaken opposition unity.
He said the upcoming state election is expected to feature direct contests between Pakatan Harapan (PH) and the PN-Barisan Nasional (BN) alliance, which he described as reflecting the aspirations of voters.
“Should anyone decide to field additional candidates tomorrow or later, it would clearly show their intention is to split the vote.
“Those attempting to prevent one-on-one contests are going against the spirit of cooperation and the aspirations of the people,” he said in a Facebook post on Friday.
Annuar added that any party choosing to disrupt the straight fights should be left for voters to judge at the ballot box.
Previously, PN announced it would contest 11 of the 36 State Legislative Assembly (DUN) seats in the Negeri Sembilan state election scheduled for August 1.
The announcement was made by PN chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar during the coalition’s candidate announcement ceremony in Seremban on Thursday night.
Under the seat allocation, PAS will contest five seats, Parti Wawasan Rakyat (Wawasan) four seats, Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan) one seat and Malaysian Indian People’s Party (MIPP) one seat.
Ahmad Samsuri also said the coalition is open to continuing its cooperation with BN in future elections if the collaboration in the Negeri Sembilan polls delivers positive results.
Earlier, PAS deputy president Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said the coalition would complete the remaining electoral “puzzle” by contesting seats not fielded by BN.
BN had previously confirmed it would contest 25 of the 36 DUN seats in the Negeri Sembilan election, paving the way for a coordinated challenge against PH.
