Rafizi says Bersama preparing Melaka election push, candidate list due in August
KUALA LUMPUR, June 8 — Parti Bersama Malaysia (Bersama) expects to announce its candidates and the seats it will contest in the Melaka state election as early as August, as it steps up preparations for what is expected to be the next round of polls after Johor and Negeri Sembilan.
Party president Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli said Bersama would need about another month to gauge voter sentiment before finalising the number of constituencies it intends to contest.
“By early August, we should have a clearer picture of the number of seats and constituencies we will contest in Melaka.
“Bersama’s advantage as a multiracial party that has chosen to go solo is that it can contest in any constituency without being constrained by any party’s traditional seats,” he told Utusan Malaysia after the second leg of the Jelajah Kancil tour at a hotel in Ayer Keroh last night.
While much of the party’s attention is currently focused on Johor and Negeri Sembilan following the dissolution of their state assemblies, Rafizi said efforts to identify potential constituencies in Melaka were also under way.
He described the response to Bersama in Melaka as encouraging despite the state’s relatively small population compared with larger states.
According to Rafizi, Selangor currently records the highest number of party registrations, followed by the Federal Territories, Johor and Sabah, while Melaka ranks seventh in terms of membership.
“Melaka is a smaller state, so the larger registration numbers are naturally in states such as Selangor, the Federal Territories, Johor and Sabah. I believe Melaka is seventh in terms of membership,” he said, as reported by the national daily.
Rafizi, however, argued that membership figures alone did not reflect a party’s strength, saying the commitment and activism of supporters were equally important.
He said programmes organised by Bersama in Melaka had shown growing public interest in the party, adding that the response had been more encouraging than what he experienced during the early stages of building previous political movements.
The party expects that momentum to build as the election approaches and believes it can offer voters in Melaka an alternative political choice, he added.
