KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 — Perikatan Nasional (PN) named Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s (Bersatu) Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin as its candidate for the position of Melaka chief minister, should the coalition win the state poll on November 20.

The coalition’s chief Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin made the announcement during a press conference at its headquarters here that Mas Ermieyati, who is also its candidate for the Tanjung Bidara constituency, will be the first woman to be in the running for the post.

"I believe that this is the first time in the history of this country that a woman candidate, who is qualified, professional, young and experienced, has been proposed for the post of chief minister,” he said.

Muhyiddin said that after early campaigning in Melaka, he concluded that Melaka voters were not concerned about the gender of the chief minister so long as the person was not corrupt.

"They want an experienced, clean leader — apart from the qualifications — who can do the job, there is a track record of all this in Datuk Mas Ermieyati,” he added.

Other contenders for the position include Barisan Nasional’s (BN) Datuk Seri Sulaiman Md Ali and Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) Adly Zahari.

Previously, BN announced that it has parted ways with ally Bersatu and PAS for the Melaka state election, leaving PN to contest without Umno.

In the November 20 election, PN fielded candidates in all 28 seats, with Bersatu contesting in 15, PAS (eight) and Gerakan (five).