Umno not part of Perikatan, no reason to negotiate seats, says Tok Mat

SEREMBAN: Umno has no reason negotiate seat allocations with Perikatan Nasional for the 15th General Election (GE15) as it is not a member of the coalition, says Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.

The Umno deputy president was surprised by a statement from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin saying that Perikatan would start talks with its political allies soon, without Umno.

"We never joined Perikatan. So why is there a need for Umno to be involved in seat negotiations with them?" he said on Friday (Oct 1).

Mohamad, who is also Umno election director and Barisan Nasional war room chairman, said the party had decided months ago against working with Bersatu, which is part of Perikatan, in GE15.

Mohamad said Umno would continue to hold talks on this with its Muafakat Nasional ally PAS and Barisan Nasional component members.

"Umno will not sacrifice its traditional seats. We will defend these," he said.

Asked to respond to a statement by PAS deputy president Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man that his party, Umno and Bersatu must be prepared to make sacrifices when talks on seats are held, Mohamad said Umno would only talk to PAS and Barisan component parties on this.

However, Mohamad did not rule out cooperation with other political parties.

"In politics, you should not burn bridges and must always keep options open.

"Whatever cooperation is proposed must be reasonable to both sides," he said, adding that this includes forming a new coalition to form the government after GE15.

Prior to this, Mohamad had told PAS to decide they were willing to work with Umno in GE15 and not wait until Parliament is dissolved.

During Umno's general assembly in March, all three party wings were unanimous in their stance to sever ties with Bersatu before GE15.

On Thursday (Sept 30), Muhyiddin said that Perikatan would hold talks on seat distribution among coalition parties.

Perikatan currently comprises Bersatu, PAS, Sabah STAR, Gerakan and SAPP.