No Pakatan feud over seats
A local PKR leader in Penang claims that the matter has been resolved and blames BN for spreading false rumours.
Athi Shankar, FMT
GEORGE TOWN: A local PKR leader has rubbished claims of feuding allies over Pakatan Rakyat’s electoral seat formula in Penang for the next general election.
State vice chairman Abdul Malik Abul Kassim blamed Barisan Nasional for spreading rumours that PKR and DAP were at loggerheads over the seat arrangement.
He insisted that the issue had been resolved amicably at the state level, indicating that the seat allocation for Penang was still being finalised at the national level.
“Rumours of us quarreling over seats are untrue. We are all one family and work like a family. We have reached consensus at the state level on seat allocations.
“There are no problems over seats among PKR, DAP and PAS in Penang. We have resolved the issue like a family,” he said.
Abdul Malik alleged that BN component parties – Umno, MCA, MIC and Gerakan – would always try to depict Pakatan as a loose and split political bloc.
In the 2008 general election, PKR contested four federal and 16 state seats, DAP contested seven and 19 while PAS’ share was two and five in Penang.
Asked if the status quo would remain in the coming election, Abdul Malik said it would only be known on nomination day.
“No one will know until then,” he said.
It was an open secret that DAP had been demanding for a larger share of seats, especially PKR constituencies, for the next polls.
DAP leaders locked horns?
It was rumoured that two top DAP leaders had a massive argument over seats arrangements.
One leader purportedly wanted the state party leadership to demand some of PKR’s 16 state seats, especially in Malay dominant areas, to enable DAP to field Malay candidates.
