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UMNO, PAS at odds over seat allocation in Johor polls

UMNO, PAS at odds over seat allocation in Johor polls
UMNO and PAS were part of the Johor government before the dissolution of the state assembly on Jan 22, 2022. (Photo: Bernama)

KUALA LUMPUR: Relationship between Malaysia’s two major Malay-Muslim parties, United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) and Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS), appears to be under strain over seat allocation in the coming Johor state polls.

UMNO information chief Shahril Sufian Hamdan has criticised PAS leader Mokhtar Seni for accusing UMNO of power hungry over reports that UMNO would only allocate four seats to PAS if both parties cooperate in the election.

Mr Shahril said in a Facebook post on Wednesday (Jan 26) that UMNO can consider views from all other parties before making its decision, but it will never succumb to any external pressures. 

Mr Shahril said that while PAS claims it wants to work with UMNO, its leaders’ accusations on UMNO are not helpful as they hurt the feelings of its members.

He said it leaves an unpleasant feeling for UMNO members when PAS leaders including Mr Mokhtar belittle UMNO’s ability to win elections.

Mr Shahril said UMNO’s top leadership is currently reviewing its decision on whether to work with other parties for the Johor election. 

“However, don’t blame UMNO if statements such as those made by Ustaz Mokhtar narrow the possibility for cooperation with friends who attack (us) like enemies,” he said.

Mr Mokhtar, who is Pahang PAS ulama chief, had earlier said that UMNO appeared to have reverted to its old ways, which are power hungry and greedy for seats.

He said UMNO has seemingly forgotten about the by-elections it won with PAS's assistance when Pakatan Harapan (PH) was in power from 2018 to 2020.

"UMNO appears to be once again possessed by its greed for power and lust for electoral seats. There is no cure for UMNO except for defeat," Mr Mohktar was quoted as saying on his Facebook on Wednesday by Malaysiakini. 

He added that UMNO must realise that it has no choice except to work with PAS and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu).

Last Saturday, Johor Chief Minister Hasni Mohammad, who is from UMNO, announced the dissolution of the state assembly to pave the way for the state election. 

The Election Commission will meet on Feb 9 to discuss the dates and other preparations.  

On Monday, UMNO leaders announced that the party will be contesting in 42 of the 56 seats in the Johor state assembly.

Before the dissolution of the state legislature, UMNO and PAS were part of the Barisan Nasional-led (BN) government together with Bersatu.

Mr Hasni led the state government with 28 seats, with BN holding 16 seats, Bersatu 11 and PAS one. It only holds a one-seat majority following the death of Bersatu's Kempas assemblyman Osman Sapian. 

The opposition PH coalition holds 27 seats: Democratic Action Party (DAP) has 14 seats, Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) six and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) seven.

GRASSROOTS WANT BN TO ENTER POLLS WITHOUT PAS: UMNO DEPUTY CHIEF

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, BN deputy chairman and UMNO deputy president Mohamad Hasan said political cooperation between BN and PAS in the Johor polls will be carefully studied.

He said that so far, the majority of the leaders at the grassroots and divisional levels wanted BN to enter the election alone, Bernama reported. 

"However, the top-level leadership will carefully study the matter before making whatever decision that is good for BN," he was quoted as saying.

UMNO, PAS and Bersatu are also part of the central government in Putrajaya under the prime ministership of UMNO vice president Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

In the Melaka state election last November, PAS had chosen to side with Bersatu under their Perikatan Nasional (PN) banner and gone against UMNO in seven seats.

PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man expressed his disappointment that UMNO was only offering his party four seats should they cooperate for the Johor state election.

Tuan Ibrahim said PAS wanted to contest every seat that BN failed to win in the last general election in 2018, according to Malaysiakini.

PH ANNOUNCES SEAT ALLOCATION, USE OF LOGOS 

On Thursday, PH announced the seat allocation among its component parties for the Johor election on Thursday.

The Star quoted Amanah president Mohamad Sabu as saying that both PKR and Amanah will be allocated 20 seats each, while DAP will contest in the remaining 16 seats.

In 2018, PKR and Amanah contested in 12 seats each and DAP 14.

Bersatu, which was part of PH then, stood in 18 seats.

Mr Mohamad, who is also MP for Kota Raja, said that the seat allocation was finalised at a PH presidential council meeting on Wednesday.

Although the seat allocation has been finalised, PH is still open for talks with other parties, he said.

“Though the seats have been decided, we are also open to discussions with any parties that want to work with Pakatan in the upcoming polls,” Mr Mohamad said at a press conference in Permas Jaya, Johor Bahru, according to the Star.

“If they have a winning chance, all three components of Pakatan will have a joint discussion about it before deciding,” he added.

Mr Mohamad said the parties PH is willing to consider under these circumstances are the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (MUDA) and Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang).

Meanwhile, PKR president Anwar Ibrahim announced on Wednesday that his party will use its own logo in the Johor election.

Speaking to reporters after Wednesday’s PH presidential council meeting, Mr Anwar, who is also PH chairman, said that DAP and Amanah will use the PH logo.

“The decision on the logo was consensual. PKR will use its own logo while the others will use the PH logo,” said Mr Anwar, as quoted by the Malaysian Insight.   

This will be the second time that PKR uses its own logo in a state election. It lost all 28 seats it contested in Sarawak election last December.

Source: Agencies/ih(tx)

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