Khalid: It’ll be Pakatan Harapan candidate, not Amanah

(The Star) – If Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) contests in the upcoming Sg Besar by-election, the candidate will be announced as a Pakatan Harapan candidate.

“The candidate will be fielded as a Pakatan Harapan candidate and the name will be announced by Pakatan Harapan,” said Amanah communication director Khalid Samad when contacted.

He said this was the new procedure that was the objective behind the formation of Pakatan Harapan.

Khalid said it was unfortunate that the first polls that Pakatan had to attend after its inception was the Sarawak election.

“The state-level Pakatan parties there were given autonomy and it was really difficult to make them toe the line,” he said.

Khalid said, however, that it was too early to say if Amanah would contest in Sg Besar.

The parliamentary seat became vacant after incumbent Datuk Noriah Kasnon was killed in a helicopter crash in Sarawak last week.

Khalid added that Amanah did not want to discuss and announce the matter too soon as Noriah’s family and relatives were still grieving.

“We have to respect the feelings of the family,” said Khalid.