Deadline set for GE14 seat talks, but is Pakatan ready to take on PAS?
(MMO) – The four Pakatan Harapan parties have established a timeframe to conclude seat negotiations for the general election that is rumoured to be held this year, ahead of schedule.
Malay Mail Online understands there are also plans underway to distribute the seats PAS had contested in Election 2013 to Amanah and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM), as the Islamist party has made it clear it wants nothing to do with Pakatan Harapan.
But the issue of seat negotiations, expected to conclude after Hari Raya in June, will likely be a complicated affair due to PKR and PPBM’s refusal to write off PAS entirely as an ally.
DAP and Amanah feel Pakatan Harapan should forge ahead and conclude seat negotiations within the pact and other allies like Parti Warisan Sabah as soon as possible, and leave PAS out of the equation.
PAS seats for Amanah, PPBM
“The current situation is that Pakatan Harapan has four parties. The seats previously contested by PAS will be shared between Amanah and PPBM because now we’ve got four parties instead of three.
“There will be some seats contested by PAS which will be contested by PPBM… the question of the three-cornered fights is something inevitable, we can’t deny (the) possibility it will occur,” Amanah communications director Khalid Samad told Malay Mail Online.
He said Pakatan Harapan’s election strategy will be to shape the GE14 contest as choice between the Opposition pact and Barisan Nasional, as PAS will most likely not have enough seats on its own to become a “government.”
“There might be even some seats which PKR give to PPBM to contest,” the Shah Alam MP said, but quickly stressed that “nothing was finalised yet.”
In Election 2013, PAS contested 73 parliamentary seats. PKR and DAP contested 99 and 51 respectively.
Khalid said that Amanah is hoping to contest 38 to 40 parliamentary seats, including some in Sabah.
“The discussion on seat negotiations is on the way and will carry on probably right throughout this month to the end of Ramadhan, Hopefully to finalise parliamentary and state seats by Raya,” he added.
DAP national organising secretary Anthony Loke confirmed the tentative deadline, saying his party expects negotiations to carry on for another one or two months.
“As far as DAP is concerned, we will only negotiate within the parties in Pakatan Harapan,” he said when asked whether there was still a possibility for PAS to be included in the seat talks.
