Pakatan in disarray over seat allocation
PAKATAN Harapan still cannot reach a consensus over this contentious issue, as evident in Selangor, Negri Sembilan and Perlis.
PAKATAN Harapan’s preparations for the 14th General Election appears to be in disarray, with the opposition pact yet to finalise the thorny issue of seat allocations in several states.
In Selangor, a two-day meeting failed to make headway.
According to sources, PKR would be contesting 19 state seats, DAP would get 18, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) will get 10, and Parti Amanah Negara (PAN) nine.
The sources claimed that arguments had broken out in the meetings, which were chaired by Pakatan Selangor secretary Zuraida Kamarudin.
“In the meetings, PKR representatives declared that the party needs to be the leader in Pakatan, and that it will be contesting 19 seats.
“This caused discord among PPBM and PAN leaders. We were made to understand that this directive came from Selangor Pakatan chairman Datuk Seri Azmin Ali,” said a source.
The source claimed that PPBM and PAN were in the opinion that PPBM should contest 12 seats held by Barisan Nasional (BN), while PAN would tackle 13 seats held by Pas.
In Kangar, Perlis Pakatan parties had yet to reach a consensus despite changes in the allocation of three parliamentary seats.
The distribution of state seats, which was scheduled to be completed by last month, had yet to be resolved as parties were forced to return to the drawing board after PAN sacrificed its parliamentary seat to PPBM.
It is understood that PKR, PPBM and PAN would each contest one of the three parliamentary seats in Perlis.
However, PAN had to make way for PPBM to contest in Padang Besar and Arau, while PKR retained its right to contest in Kangar.
Perlis PKR deputy chairman Chan Ming Kai acknowledged that Pakatan components had yet to finalise talks on state seat allocations, but was confident that negotiations would be concluded by this week.
“We have completed 70 per cent of the 15 state seats distribution. There are only four seats left to be finalised, namely Pauh, Simpang Empat, Tambun Tulang and Sena.
In Seremban, Negri Sembilan PPBM chief Baharuddin Ahmad said the party was adamant in contesting four more state seats.
“The seats — Paroi, Ampangan, Labu and Linggi — have been allocated to PKR and PAN, and this is frustrating.
“We approached the local community and they have expressed their objection towards PKR and PAN candidates.”
The Pakatan convention here on Jan 28 ended in chaos when PPBM grassroots members expressed dissatisfaction with the seat allocation, which saw PKR getting 12, DAP 11, PAN seven and PPBM six.