JASIN: Perikatan Nasional (PN) wants to defend the seats it won in the previous Melaka election, said Parti Wawasan Negara (Wawasan) president Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin.
He said if Umno wanted to defend the seats it had won, the same principle should apply to Wawasan.
"Both state seats held by the former opposition assemblymen in Melaka are now represented by Wawasan members.
"If Umno says it wants to defend the seats it won, why should I not be allowed to defend the seats we won?" he said.
He was speaking at a press conference after chairing Wawasan's supreme council meeting at Heritage Hotel here today. Also present was the party's secretary-general, Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah.
Hamzah, who is also Larut member of parliament, said Wawasan was open to discussing seat swaps if Barisan Nasional (BN) had seats it wanted the party to contest.
"If they want a particular seat, that is possible, but I have made it clear that we want to defend our seats.
"If they want to negotiate, they must sit down with us to discuss suitable seats — seats that could determine victory for either PN or BN," he said.
Commenting on speculation that Wawasan would contest only one state seat in Melaka, Paya Rumput, Hamzah described it as speculation but did not confirm the number of seats the party would contest.
He said a decision on Wawasan's participation in the Melaka election would be announced after the court delivers its decision on Oct 22.
Earlier, media reports suggested that Wawasan was almost certain to be allocated Paya Rumput, with the party's Tangga Batu division pro-tem chief, Ramlan Meon, 40, tipped as a potential candidate.
The reports said the development could affect the chances of former assemblymen Dr Mohd Aleef Yusof and Dr Mohd Yadzil Yaakub, who won Sungai Udang and Bemban respectively under the PN ticket in the 2021 Melaka election before leaving Bersatu to join Wawasan.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd