Penang PH, BN done with seat talks for state polls, says Chow

GEORGE TOWN: The Penang Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) leaderships are considered to have settled their seat negotiations for the state polls due this year, says Penang PH chairman Chow Kon Yeow.

Chow said, however, talks on seat distribution among parties in the Unity Government would continue at the federal level.

"Meetings at the central level are continuing, and decisions for the state will be made at the federal level,” the Penang Chief Minister told reporters after the launch of the Penang Economic Plan here on Monday (June 12).

He said apart from defending their seats, BN might get to contest in a few more constituencies.

"Based on the principle of incumbency, they (BN) have two seats but there is still room for them to contest in seats previously won by the other side (PAS and Bersatu).

"There is this space for distributing seats to BN and therefore, they have the potential to get more than the seats they are holding now,” he added.

Chow said the seat allocations for state polls were expected to be announced simultaneously for Penang, Kedah, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Kelantan and Terengganu.

Last Thursday (June 8), Chow announced that the state government planned to dissolve the Penang state assembly on June 28 to pave the way for state elections.

Penang has 40 state seats, and in the 14th general election (GE14), PH won 37 seats including two by Bersatu (which was then part of PH), while BN won two seats and PAS, one.

It was reported that these six states have reached an understanding to dissolve their legislative assemblies in the last two weeks of June to allow the state polls to be held simultaneously.- Bernama