Puteri Wangsa: All eyes on the seat as MUDA President Amira declines candidacy!
JOHOR BARU: As the Johor state election draws near, all eyes have turned to the high-stakes constituency of Puteri Wangsa, a hot-button seat that became the focal point in the 2022 Johor state assembly elections.
The constituency holds deep tactical significance as the sole state seat currently held by the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (MUDA). Muda’s Deputy President at the time, Amira Aisya Abd Aziz, secured the seat in a notable victory during the 2022 Johor state polls. Supported by Pakatan Harapan, she polledĀ 22.884 votes to win with a majority of 7,114 votes in a multi-cornered contest. Perikatan Nasional polled 8,957 votes, and Barisan Nasional secured 15,770 votes. Parti Bangsa Malaysia, Pejuang and an independent also contested the seat.
In a surprising strategic shift, Amira Aisya has officially announced she will not seek re-election to her state seat. Instead, she revealed that Muda will field its national deputy treasurer, Rashifah Aljunid, to contest in Puteri Wangsa.
Amira Aisya, now elected as the President of MUDA, detailed her future political plans on the popular ‘Goodcast Show’ with Vinod Rajendran, confirming her intention to move away from state assembly politics to contest a federal parliamentary seat in the upcoming 16th General Election (GE16). She noted, however, that the exact federal constituency remains undecided as internal leadership discussions continue.
Recently, MUDA formed a pact with PSM to contest in the forthcoming elections. It is not yet known whether MUDA will contest Puteri Wangsa on its own merits or form an alliance with one of the major coalitions.
Muda’s early candidacy declaration has immediately heightened speculations regarding who will challenge them for the multi-ethnic seat.
Within the Pakatan Harapan (PH) opposition bloc, negotiations have officially concluded with the PKR securing the alliance’s nomination ticket for Puteri Wangsa. Amanah Johor State Chairman Aminolhuda Hassan confirmed that his party gracefully dropped its initial claim over the seat, relinquishing it to PKR in the interest of coalition unity following intense consensus-building talks. PKR has yet to name its official candidate.
Meanwhile, uncertainty looms over the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition’s approach to the seat. While BN plans to contest all 56 state seats, it remains unclear whether the linchpin party UMNO will field its own candidate in Puteri Wangsa or delegate the seat to one of its traditional component allies, such as the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) or the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA).
(Pic: Amira Aisya with MUDA’s candidate for Puteri Wangsa Rashifah Aljunid)
