BN leaders' absence from Jelajah Mega Madani Selangor not due to seat allocation concerns
MOHD FAIZUL HAIKA MAT KHAZI
BARISAN Nasional (BN) leaders did not boycott the Jelajah Mega Madani Selangor event organised by Pakatan Harapan (PH) due to seat allocation concerns for the upcoming state election.
Selangor Umno Communication deputy head Datuk Johan Abdul Aziz stressed that the absence of BN leaders in the tour on Saturday night should not be exaggerated.
He said they were unable to attend the tour because there was no prior discussion between PH and BN state representatives regarding the tentative of the programme, which Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim should have attended.
Following this, Johan said he and Selangor BN chairman Datuk Seri Megat Zulkarnain Omardin had informed the organiser that they would not attend the programme because they would be attending the 15th Annual General Assembly of 'Badan Amal Kasih Negeri Selangor' held at Kuala Lumpur last Saturday.
"The issue of BN leaders not attending 'Jelajah Mega Madani Selangor' is unrelated to boycotting PH because the programme was held without consulting us beforehand. It's like when we want to host a big party, the stakeholders should plan and discuss it carefully.
"So if there is no prior discussion about the programme then we consider it insignificant as it was just to launch PH machinery and have nothing to do with BN," he said when contacted by Sinar Premium yesterday.
Johan said this in response to claims that BN representatives did not attend PH's 'Jelajah Mega Madani Selangor' on Saturday night, which raised questions and speculation among political observers.
Commenting further, Johan explained that the seats allocation issue between BN-PH was not the main reason the Umno president, Selangor BN chairman and himself not attending the programme because the top leadership of both coalition are currently discussing the matter.
In fact, Johan said the issue was expected to be resolved in a meeting between the coalition's top leadership and PH-BN Presidential Council soon to resolve all disputes.
"PH-BN top leadership will hold a meeting soon to discuss campaign strategies and issues Perikatan Nasional (PN) would raise in the upcoming state election," he said.
BN LEADERS ABSENCE IS SIGNAL TO ISSUE ON THE SEATS ALLOCATION? Meanwhile, in a statement yesterday, Umno Selangor chairman Datuk Seri Megat Zulkarnain Omardin confirmed that Selangor BN is not involved in 'Jelajah Mega Madani Selangor' hosted by PH.
Megat said he would not attend the programme because BN's election machinery was not launched together with PH in the programme.
"I was told that 'Jelajah Mega Madani', the programme organised by PH, is for political talks and it was organised by PH secretariat so BN is not involved," he said.
Meanwhile, former Selangor Menteri Besar Mohamad Khir Toyo said he did not rule out the possibility of BN not sending a representative to attend the tour because the event was organised by PH and not a joint programme involving both coalitions.
He said PH-BN needs to quickly find common ground and resolve the misunderstanding and cold war between the two parties because the Selangor state assembly officially dissolved last Friday and the state election will be held in less than 60 days.
"I understand that Umno is not satisfied because the party was given too few seats compared to the 14 seats requested.
"BN is also expected to face problems in the Selangor state election because the party is seen as less prepared compared to PN, which seems to be more prepared, whereas even the seat allocation between Pas and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) faced no issue because they tolerate each other," he said.
The deputy head (strategy) of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, Asia headquarters at Sunway University, Prof Wong Chin Huat said although the absence of BN leaders was not a good sign, in the end, the supporters of both coalitions had to agree and cooperate to maintain the status quo of Selangor state government.
Wong explained that if PH-BN supporters and leaders continue to be divided, then both coalitions will be punished by voters in the state election later under the First-Past-The-Post.
"It might take a week to resolve the issue, but they will reach an agreement over the seat allocation eventually because there is no other way to win the state election later," he said.
AVOID TENSION However, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia political analyst Dr Mazlan Ali did not rule out the possibility of BN representatives not attending the programme because they were dissatisfied over the seat allocation between PH-BN in Selangor.
Therefore, PH should give additional seats to Umno in Selangor to reduce the tension and dissatisfaction from Umno-BN supporters, thus creating a win-win situation ahead of the state election.
"PH seems too dominant in Selangor. Thus, there is a possibility of Umno wanting a more appropriate role in this state," he said.
