Final week of PH-BN seat negotiations in Kedah - Mahfuz
POKOK SENA - Seat allocation negotiations between Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) in Kedah are expected to be finalised next week.
Kedah PH chairman Datuk Mahfuz Omar said there were only three or four State Legislative Assembly (DUN) seats left that still needed to be negotiated to face the next State Election.
Mahfuz said negotiations were still ongoing, not due to deadlock or difficulty in reaching an agreement, but several aspects needed to be refined.
“The negotiations will take place within the next week.
“Which area (can’t be made public yet) is a secret, after negotiations are done, we will announce it to the public,” he said in a press conference after a programme with the Pokok Sena Farmers’ Association together with the Farmers’ Association Board chairman here on Tuesday.
Mahfuz said that the discussions between the two parties took place harmoniously, each finding common ground through the state election campaign ‘kalih bagi sama’.
“We do not have a big problem (in negotiations) because we have a common ground, especially in Kedah.
“The point of commonality between PH and BN should be in line with the Federal Government so that it is easy for us to negotiate.
“If there’s a little argument, that’s a normal process in negotiations, even if you want to have a wedding party, there’s an argument, just not to the point of being difficult,” he said.
Mahfuz said even though each party in both coalitions demanded more seats to be contested, it was customary in negotiations and was believed to have been resolved well.
“We also agree that any seat previously won by PH or BN will not be tampered with. For example, three seats previously won by BN will remain theirs and vice versa, because it was a victory over their respective parties,” he explained.
Mahfuz also said that the Alor Mengkudu state seat held by Datuk Phahrolrazi Mohd Zawawi who has now migrated from Amanah to the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) would be under Amanah’s quota.
“The seat still belongs to Amanah because the victory in the state assembly was based on the capacity of the party (Amanah) in the last election,” he explained.
