JOHOR BAHRU (June 27): Puteri Wangsa (N.41), the only Johor state seat ever won by the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda), will see five candidates vying for the constituency.
The constituency, won by Muda president Amira Aisya Abdul Aziz in a six-cornered contest in 2022, will now be fielded with activist Rashifa Aljuneid from the same party. Amira has opted not to contest in any seat for the 2026 state election.
The party now faces a tougher challenge after its split from Pakatan Harapan (PH), which has nominated former education minister Dr Maszlee Malik.
Barisan Nasional (BN) has fielded MCA's Teow Chia Ling, while newly formed party Bersama is represented by Nicholas Paul Vincent. Independent candidate Wang Wee Szong completes the line-up.
Johor voters will cast their ballots on July 11.
In 2022, Muda benefitted from PH's support and won Puteri Wangsa with 22,884 votes, securing 43% of the vote despite a six-cornered fight. The victory made Amira the party's first elected representative and gave Muda its only seat in Johor.
Unlike its previous fight with BN and other parties, Muda now finds itself competing directly against PH for the same pool of semi-urban seats of Puteri Wangsa.
"We are less concerned about our opponents and more concerned about the issues that Muda wants to bring in this election," Amira told The Edge on the sidelines of the nominations. She said Muda's campaign would focus on issues such as the cost of living, climate change, housing affordability and institutional reforms.
Amira also welcomed the presence of more parties in the contest, saying healthy competition is part of democracy.
"Election is about democracy. Whenever new parties enter the political space, it is something we should celebrate," she said when commenting about Bersama.
PH supporters arrived as early as 8am, led by PKR vice-president Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari and PH secretary general Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, who accompanied Maszlee to submit his nomination papers.
Saifuddin told reporters that the coalition is fielding "prominent candidates such as Maszlee" because it wants to position itself as a credible alternative government in Johor.
"Many federal government policies provide significant benefits to Johor. We want to avoid situations where plans formulated at the federal level become difficult to implement at the state level," he added.
Muda's contingent arrived shortly afterwards alongside Amira and Rashifa, carrying banners bearing slogans such as "Lawan Dua Darjat" and "Bebas Rasuah".
Puteri Wangsa has 128,723 registered voters, comprising 128,525 ordinary voters and 198 postal voters. Of these, Chinese formed the majority at 51.2%, followed by Malays at 37.3% and Indians at 10%, with others at 1.5%.
The nomination took place at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Bandar Dato' Onn on Saturday.