Let Mahathir Decide the Pakatan Seat Allocations

(FMT) – Zaid Ibrahim has called for Pakatan Harapan (PH) leaders from PKR, DAP, Amanah and PPBM to listen to coalition chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad when it comes to the final decision on seat allocations for the next general election (GE14).

Calling it a matter of having “implicit trust”, the former minister said it was essential for the opposition pact to declare their full confidence in the former prime minister.

“I have full confidence and have no doubt that Mahathir is the man we need to lead us, not only to unseat Prime Minister Najib Razak, but to rebuild a country that has gone mad.

“So, it’s critical that PH leaders be reminded that only deep, implicit trust in Mahathir can resolve the many differences that are still outstanding before the next election,” he said in his latest blog posting, referring to seat allocation as being a key outstanding issue in the coalition.

Zaid, who joined DAP earlier this year, added that the opposition has been “somewhat united” and “more credible” with Mahathir taking charge as the “coalition’s undisputed leader”.

PKR, DAP and PAS splinter, Amanah, had formed Pakatan Harapan in September 2015 after the demise of Pakatan Rakyat following key disagreements between PAS and DAP.

PPBM, led by Mahathir and former deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin and comprising former Umno members, then joined PH in March this year.

“Some think they are from the ‘senior party’ and therefore must contest more seats than others. However, the new kids on the block also want more seats than they deserve.

“Naturally, PPBM will want the most seats, otherwise, their claim of being an alternative Malay party to Umno will sound hollow,” Zaid said.

He added that winning candidates should not be forgotten and placed in the right constituencies, even if they are not from the party that has prior claim to that seat.

“Whatever it is, Pakatan leaders must have full trust in Mahathir to make the right decisions.

“He has the experience and the wisdom to do the right thing. It’s not easy to accommodate and reconcile competing claims from all the ‘big shots’,” Zaid said, urging PH leaders to let Mahathir to resolve the competing claims quickly.

PH component parties current hold 66 parliamentary seats with the breakdown being PKR with 28, DAP (31), Amanah (6) and PPBM (1). Muhyiddin holds the sole PPBM seat in Pagoh, Johor.