Overlapping seats leave BN-PH negotiation incomplete

SHAH ALAM - The result of the committee negotiation of seat allocation between Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) for the state election on Thursday night showed that there were one or two overlapping seats that have not yet been resolved in each state.

Amanah communications director Khalid Abdul Samad said that the negotiation between PH-BN had not yet been completed with the final stage negotiations to be determined by leaders of each party.

According to him, discussions have been made to minimise the number of overlapping seats between PH-BN.

"However, there is a final discussion at the Presidential Council (BN-PH) level involving Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and PH chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to finalise the matter.

"The negotiation last night (Thursday) went smoothly. There were no disputes. There was even a feast," he told Sinar Premium.

Answering a question about the announcement date of the election seat distribution between PH and BN, Khalid said that the good news would probably be shared ahead of Aidiladha eid.

"All State Legislative Assemblies are about to dissolve, so the result of the election seat distribution will definitely be announced soon.

"Perhaps before next weekend, we will know the result of BN-PH seat distribution," he suggested.

Commenting on Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) deputy president Rafizi Ramli's statement that the party had identified all the candidates for the state seats they are contesting in, Khalid said that Amanah also had candidates deemed suitable to contest in the six-state election.

"For now, Amanah already has its candidates. However, the question of which state assembly seat they will compete for will be managed by the party election management committee.

"For me, it is not difficult to find a candidate, but it is difficult to get an election seat. Once we get a seat, there will definitely be suitable candidates to be placed in that area," he said.

On Thursday night, a negotiation of seat distribution between PH and BN was chaired by Rafizi for PH while BN was led by its deputy chairman Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.

The negotiation focused on the agreement of the Unity Government component parties to determine the seat distriibution across the six states, namely Kedah, Penang, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Terengganu and Kelantan.

Although the discussion between the parties went smoothly, the leaders present remained tight-lipped about the details of the seat distribution between PH and BN.

In the meantime, Khalid has high hopes that supporters will continue to support the candidates placed in the six states regardless of which party the candidates are from.

"When an agreement has been decided together, we hope that all parties will continue to support the Unity Government even though it may not be the candidate from the party they want for a state assembly," he said.

Meanwhile, Terengganu Umno chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Said who was also attended the negotiation informed that his party had not yet finalised the names of proposed candidates for BN in the state.

"I was present and sat in the negotiation, but all final decisions will be left to leaders of each party to discuss and make the final decision.

"We only gave suggestions, but it would be determined by party leaders. This is the first time that BN faces the state election together with other parties in the Unity Government. My hope is that we can all continue to cooperate ," he explained.