SHAH ALAM: Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) talks over Selangor State Assembly seats distribution since the beginning of this month, appears to have reached a deadlock.
According to sources, the failure to reach a consensus among the members of the opposition pact in the state was due to the PKR's adamant position of contesting most of the state seats. The reasoning being that they ‘own’ Selangor.
"The reasons given by PKR leaders was that Selangor 'belonged to' PKR, Penang 'belongs to' the DAP and the possibility of Kedah 'belonging to' Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM)”.
Sources also said that the state which will ‘belong to’ Parti Amanah Negara (PAN) would be determined based on the outcome of the 14th General Election (GE14)
“A total of 14 PKR seats and 15 DAP seats which was won in GE13 will be continued to be contested by both the two respective parties.
“PAN meanwhile has two seats to call its own in the State Assembly after its representatives quit PAS to join the opposition pact party member.”
Sources add that the current distribution of seats only involved 25 out of the 56 state seats held by Barisan Nasional (BN) and PAS.
"So, the remaining 12 seats belonging to BN and PAS's 13 seats needs to be distributed between DAP, PKR, PPBM and PAN. This situation has caused PPBM and PAN to be dissatisfied (over the seat distribution), "the source said.
Prior to this, Selangor PPBM Information Chief Sallehuddin Amiruddin had refused to accept the initial seat distribution and said that the party remained steadfast in contesting for the BN seats.
In GE13, BN won 12 state assembly seats in Selangor. The seats are Sungai Burong, Jeram, Kuang, Semenyih, Permatang, Bukit Malawati, Sungai Air Tawar, Sungai Panjang, Hulu Bernam, Batang Kali, Kota Damansara and Dengkil.
PAN meanwhile was consistent with its stand of contesting the state seats won by PAS in GE13.The seats are Taman Templer, Lembah Jaya, Paya Jaras, Chempaka, Meru, Dusun Tua, Tanjung Sepat, Sabak, Gombak Setia, Bangi, Seri Serdang, Selat Klang, Sijangkang, Morib and Hulu Klang.
Hulu Klang state assemblyman, Saari Sungib, and Morib state assemblyman Hasnul Baharuddin however had since quit Pas to join PAN.
Currently, DAP holds 14 state seats, PKR (13), PAS (13), BN (12), PAN (2) dan independents (2). The two independents are Pelabuhan Klang state assemblyman, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, previously with PKR dan Teluk Datuk state assemblyman, Loh Chee Heng previously with DAP.
On February 9, it was reported that based on preliminary outcome of negotiations, PKR was reportedly said to be contesting 19 state seats, DAP (18), PPBM (10), and PAN (nine), however PPBM and PAN protested over the initial outcome of negotiations.