JOHOR BAHARU, April 5 – Johor PAS will not be mediator in the quarrel between DAP and PKR, which appears to be worsening over the allocation of seats in the state for the 13th general election (13GE). Its commissioner Datuk Dr Mahfodz Mohamed said he regarded the quarrel between two of the partners in the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) as “small” and did not require the intervention of a third party.
He also believed that the Johor DAP-PKR tiff would not affect PR’s preparations and cooperation in facing the 13GE in the Barisan Nasional stronghold. Besides tussling over the Gelang Patah parliamentary seat, PKR and DAP are also quarrelling over which of the two parties should be contesting the Johor Jaya and Tangkak state seats and Segamat parliamentary seat.
The recent announcement that DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang would be contesting in Gelang Patah, had upset Johor PKR chairman Datuk Chua Jui Ming who decided to take a “long leave” from party activities. Following this, the state PKR leadership stated that it would not compromise anymore with DAP in the allocation of seats.
Meanwhile, Mahfodz said Johor PAS would be fielding candidates in eight parliamentary seats and 29 or 30 state seats in this general election. He, however, declined to say where PAS vice-president Salahuddin Ayub would be contesting, although there were reports saying that he would be vying for the Pulai parliamentry seat and Nusajaya state seat.
BERNAMA
