PETALING JAYA: Wawasan wants to defend the Sungai Udang and Bemban state seats in the Melaka election, just as Umno intends to defend the 21 seats it previously held, says its president, Hamzah Zainudin.
Hamzah said Wawasan had the right to contest the two seats based on the principle of incumbency.
“If Umno’s principle is that it wants to defend the seats it won, why won’t it allow Wawasan to defend the seats we won?
“They can ask for any seat they want, but I want to make it clear that we want to defend our seats.
“If they want our seats, we can give them up, but let’s sit down together and discuss,” Utusan Malaysia quote him as saying.
He said any negotiation must take the interests of all parties into account, adding that Wawasan's demands should not be sidelined simply because others were also interested in contesting the two seats.
Dr Aleef Yusof and Dr Yadzil Yaakub won the Sungai Udang and Bemban seats at the last state election in 2021. Both joined Wawasan last year.
Barisan Nasional chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi previously said that while Umno intends to defend its 21 seats, it was open to negotiating with potential partners over the remaining seven constituencies.
The Election Commission has set polling day on Nov 14. Nominations will be held on Oct 31 and early voting on Nov 10.
Nearly 700,000 voters are eligible to cast their ballots.
In the 2021 state election, BN won 21 of the 28 seats, while Pakatan Harapan won five seats and Perikatan Nasional two.