PAGOH: There is “no big brother or little brother” in Perikatan Nasional, says Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (pic) in defending the coalition’s decision for PAS to contest the lion’s share of seats in the upcoming state polls.
Muhyiddin, who is the coalition chairman, said the Islamist party had the most incumbent state legislators in the coalition compared with its partners, Bersatu and Gerakan.
“The fact is PAS has been established longer than Bersatu and they have many incumbents in the states that will have elections,” said Muhyiddin, who is also Bersatu president.
“PAS is also in power in Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah and they have seats in the other states,” he said yesterday after attending an event in conjunction with Hari Raya Haji celebrations.
The three states, along with Selangor, Penang and Negri Sembilan, are expected to go to the polls in late July or early August.
Muhyiddin said seat allocations among Perikatan parties take into consideration the number of PAS incumbents who won their seats during the 14th General Election (GE14) in 2018.
“We do not call each other big brother or little brother. I am Bersatu president and Perikatan chairman, supported by PAS and it does not matter who leads as long as we have the same struggles.
“Seat allocation is fair with PAS having more seats in Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah while Bersatu will be contesting more seats in Selangor and Negri Sembilan,” he added.
On Thursday, Perikatan announced that it would contest all 245 seats in the six state elections, with about 51% or 126, going to PAS alone.
Bersatu is contesting 83 seats or 33%, while Gerakan received 36 constituencies, or about 15% of the total.
Of the 245, Selangor has the highest number of seats at 56, followed by Kelantan at 45, Penang at 40, Negeri Sembilan and Kedah at 36 each and Terengganu at 32.Some 150 seats are where Perikatan has no incumbents, the majority of which are being contested by Bersatu at 64, with PAS and Gerakan getting 50 and 36 constituencies respectively.
The coalition, however, was still finalising its candidates for these seats, Muhyiddin added.
“Usually we take into consideration those who are already there (incumbents) and remain eligible. Those who are new, whether they are young men or women, will be taken into account.
“No matter what, we usually make sure that there is fair and appropriate participation by each type of candidate group,” he said.
