KLANG: While Perikatan Nasional’s Bersatu and PAS have concluded their seat negotiations in Selangor, Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional are still haggling.
Both sides are in dispute over several seats, which is delaying the talks.
“If the negotiations cannot be settled at state level, it will be left to the top leaders of both coalitions to make a final decision,” said a Selangor state government insider, who is also an assemblyman.
The Gombak Setia seat now held by Hilman Idham, a key player in the 2020 Sheraton Move, is among the heavily disputed constituencies, according to another Pakatan insider.
Hilman had ditched PKR and moved to Bersatu with his mentor Datuk Seri Azmin Ali in the Sheraton Move which led to the fall of the then Pakatan Harapan Federal Government.
The insider said PKR wanted to unseat Hilman, who is regarded as a traitor, just as Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari beat Azmin in the Gombak parliamentary seat in the general election.
“But Barisan wants the seat because Umno Selangor’s chief Datuk Megat Zulkarnain Omardin is the Gombak division chairman,” he said.
Another disputed seat is Sijangkang.
The seat was held by Umno until it fell to PAS’ Selangor commissioner Datuk Dr Ahmad Yunos Hairi in the 2008 general election.
Dr Yunos also won the Kuala Langat parliamentary seat in the last general election.
The Sijangkang, Banting and Morib seats come under the Kuala Langat constituency and there is talk that Dr Yunos will be defending his state seat as well.
“We lost the Kuala Langat seat in GE15 and need the Sijangkang seat to mark our presence in the constituency,” said a PKR elected representative, adding that since Amanah had Morib and DAP had Banting, it was only right for PKR to have Sijangkang.
Another question is whether Umno will face the danger of being trounced in places where former Tanjong Karang MP Tan Sri Noh Omar wields influence.
Noh, who was MP there for six-terms, was expelled from Umno earlier this year.
Former Kapar Umno division chief Datuk Faisal Abdullah thinks the Noh factor will not be a threat.
“The voters are mostly in the 18 to 45 age bracket. They don’t care about loyalty to local warlords. They are only interested in what the government can give them and about issues of transparency and corruption,” said Faisal.
He cited how former three-term Putrajaya MP Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, also an Umno veteran, was defeated by Bersatu’s Datuk Radzi Jidin in 2018.
“Tengku Adnan had taken good care of his constituents and would even have an open kitchen during Hari Raya where people can go and help themselves to food.
“But all that did not help him,” he said.
Another contentious matter in the seat talks is the Barisan cooperation with DAP.
“This is a problem in villages where Perikatan has a presence as they are raising religious and racial issues there,” said a former Umno division chief who had been an aide to a minister.
He felt that the collaboration between Pakatan and Barisan would see Umno losing support in Malay majority areas.
The former division chief was also worried that MCA and MIC would not be offered any seats in the state.
“MCA and MIC supporters may take offence and not come out to vote at all,” he said.
Umno’s Semenyih assemblyman Zakaria Hanafi, however, believes all will be well in constituencies with a good proportion of Chinese and Indian voters.
“These voters will not stray from Pakatan. Because of this, Barisan will be safe in such constituencies,” he said.
He cited his own constituency which had about 60% Malay voters and 40% Chinese, Indian and other races.
“Even if we lose 30% of the Malay votes, we can still win if we get 30% of the votes from the rest,” said Zakaria.
He also said there was no issue between Pakatan and Barisan members at state level.
“We are old friends,” he said.
PKR treasurer-general William Leong agreed, saying the past antagonistic relationship has now dissipated.
“I think the cooperation will continue at state and federal levels and we can work together without any issue. We (Pakatan and Barisan) are looking ahead to the future,” he added.
