Harapan in talks with Muda, PSM to partner up for GE15

Pakatan Harapan has formed a committee to negotiate with youth-oriented party Muda on its application to join the coalition.

DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke Siew Fook said the new committee is expected to start negotiations shortly.

“The negotiations will be held as soon as possible, within the following one to two weeks. After that, they will report to the presidential council to make a decision,” he said.

He was speaking after the coalition’s presidential council meeting at PKR’s head office in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

The Harapan presidential council said, in a statement today, that it is also looking to hold talks with Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM).

This comes after PSM revealed its desire to work alongside the coalition in the upcoming 15th general election (GE15).

The party’s deputy chairperson S Arulchelvan (above) said informal discussions with the coalition have been ongoing for some time, and a formal letter seeking to form an electoral pact with the coalition was sent in the last two months.

Speaking to Malaysiakini, he explained that PSM members asked the party in February to forge working relationships with Harapan, Muda, Warisan, and Parti Rakyat Malaysia.

While nothing has been decided yet, he said the party wanted to avoid multi-cornered contests in the polls and was open to the idea of using a single logo.

The Harapan committee revealed today comprises PKR vice-president Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, Amanah Youth chief Hasbie Muda, DAP national organising secretary Steven Sim, and Upko vice-president Ewon Benedick.

Harapan noted that the intention of the two parties to partner up with the coalition would mean avoiding multi-cornered clashes for seats in GE15.

PKR has been deemed as the biggest obstacle for Muda to join Harapan after both parties clashed in Larkin during the Johor state election in March.

Earlier, PKR vice-president Chang Lih Kang described Muda’s application to join Harapan as “too late”, while suggesting the newly formed party become an electoral partner to the coalition instead.

Amanah Youth recently complained they felt marginalised as Muda might be given “grade A” seats for GE15.

However, both Amanah and DAP’s top leaders have welcomed Muda’s application.

New logo soon

Meanwhile, Harapan chairperson Anwar Ibrahim said the modified common logo for the coalition to face GE15 will be finalised in a day or two.

“We discussed this issue just now and there were some suggestions presented and some counterviews.

“So, we give it one or two days to finalise,” he said, after today’s Harapan presidential council meeting.

Last month, he said all parties in the coalition decided to use the same logo to face GE15, but the logo will be “slightly modified”.

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