Up close and personal: Amirudin (second from right) mingling with the rakyat and hear what they have to say.
KLANG: In spite of the Selangor state legislative assembly dissolution expected to take place in the middle of June, the intense haggling for seats between Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional is still ongoing.
No indication is forthcoming from either side when the negotiations will be completed, but insiders say that the main focus on seats revolves around Malay majority seats.
Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari, who is Selangor Pakatan chairman, said last month that the talks on seat distribution would probably go on until nomination day.
Former Kapar Umno division chief Datuk Faisal Abdullah said if it was difficult for Pakatan and Barisan to arrive at a consensus, the parties could consider a simple formula.
“Firstly, both sides keep the seats they had won in the last election.
“The seats that they did not win should be shared out between the two sides, with seat swapping allowed,’’ he said.
As for seats that both sides did not win, he said a percentage should be set and whichever constituency had that percentage of Malay electorate, that seat should go to Barisan.
Out of Selangor’s 56 state seats, PKR currently holds 19, DAP (15), Amanah (six), Barisan (five), Bersatu (four), Pejuang (two) and Parti Bangsa Malaysia (two).
PAS and Warisan each hold one seat.
Another seat has been left vacant after state Pejuang chief Harumaini Omar was expelled for non-attendance.
There is a possibility that Umno may also lay claim to seats being held by PKR defectors Datuk Seri Azmin Ali (Bukit Antarabangsa), Hilman Idham (Gombak Setia), Dr Daroyah Alwi (Sementa) and Haniza Talha (Lembah Jaya).
Both Azmin and Hilman are Bersatu members now. Dr Daroyah and Haniza have joined Parti Bangsa Malaysia.
But sources say PKR may insist on contesting for these seats given that the incumbents had won the seats as PKR members.
Merdeka Centre co-founder and programme director Ibrahim Suffian pointed out that the number of seats for Barisan to negotiate for was limited.
“Besides the five seats where Umno is the incumbent, the other seats that Barisan can ask for are just those being held by Bersatu and Pejuang,’’ said Ibrahim.
Ibrahim said Barisan must give up its demand for Malay majority seats, as this may not work in their favour in Selangor, unlike in other states.
“Pakatan has a sizeable chunk of Malay support in Selangor and can deliver Malay votes in the state,’’ he said.
Apart from getting the right seats, another threat to Barisan is the presence of political warlord Tan Sri Noh Omar, who was a six-term Tanjong Karang MP before he was expelled from Umno.
A source close to Noh said the veteran will not be contesting but will be pitting his daughter, lawyer Nurul Syazwani Noh, who is a Bersatu member, to contest for the Permatang seat, which comes under Tanjong Karang.
“Noh wields a lot of influence in Sungai Burung, which is the other state constituency under Tanjong Karang, but he has given word to PAS that the party (PAS) can contest there,’’ said the source.
On MCA and MIC, political analyst Prof Dr Sivamurugan Pandian said Barisan may face a dilemma in accommodating both parties into the scheme of things.
“If the formula for seat allocation is based on incumbency, then both MCA and MIC would be left out.
“But there are other ways to accommodate representatives from both parties, such as senator appointments and positions in state agencies,’’ he added.
Dr Sivamurugan was of the view that at least one or two seats must be given to MCA and MIC.
On whether Perikatan Nasional will be able to seize Selangor from Pakatan’s 15-year grasp, PAS, which is probably the most influential among the Perikatan component parties now, believed that it would be able to topple Pakatan incumbents in the polls.
The Islamist party’s confidence comes from its performance in last year’s general election, where it managed to win three parliamentary seats previously held by PKR, as well as the emergence of the green wave phenomenon.
Selangor PAS secretary Roslan Shahir said the party would relay the message to the public that PAS had played a pivotal role in the Selangor government from 2008 to 2014, when it was part of the now-defunct Pakatan Rakyat.
“Selangor’s current achievements are all not due to Pakatan Harapan only. We were there and our excos had also performed impressively.
“PAS also had over 100 councillors and more than half of the village heads in Selangor during that period were PAS members,’’ said Roslan.
PKR’s former Kapar MP Datuk Abdullah Sani Abdul Hamid is confident the partnership between Pakatan and Barisan will thwart Perikatan’s plan to grab the state.
A Selangor state government source, who confirmed that the state legislative assembly would be dissolved by June 18, said the Unity Government Convention, scheduled to be held on May 14, was aimed at strengthening ties between Pakatan and Barisan.
The finale of the Federal Government’s Madani Open House will also be held on May 14 night at Taman Sri Gombak, Batu Caves.
