No side will win two-thirds majority, says PAS sec-gen

(The Malaysian Insider) – The 13th general will be a very tight race where the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pact and the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition can only hope to take Parliament by a simple majority, Datuk Mustafa Ali predicts.

The PAS secretary-general poured cold water on the BN’s upbeat forecast for the looming elections that it has got the upper hand and reclaim the two-thirds majority it lost four years ago in the landmark 2008 elections, which also saw the formation of PAS-DAP-PKR partnership.

“Even if Pakatan rakyat wins, we will not get two-thirds majority.

“There will be no side that will get a two-thirds majority victory,” he told Sinar Harian Online yesterday.

The ruling BN is now in control of 137 seats out of 222 in the Dewan Rakyat.

But Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who heads the 13-member BN coalition, has expressed confidence it can take back its customary two-thirds control of Parliament as in previous years, so long as members unite instead of sabotaging the party.

Umno information chief, Datuk Ahmad Maslan has said BN only needed to win a minimum of eight seats to add to its 140 seats it won in the 12th general elections to reclaim its pole position in the law-making house.

However, political observers have said that BN could possibly take only 120 seats at the next polls, pointing to growing voter restlessness at the slow pace of the Najib administration’s promised government and economic reforms.

While a simple majority is good enough to enact new laws, a two-thirds majority is crucial to amend the Federal Constitution.