Kedah Pakatan deadlocked in seats talks

The uncompromising attitude of the top guns forces opposition supremo Anwar Ibrahim to announce that the national leadership council would now deliberate on the allocation of seats.

ALOR SETAR: Things are looking bleak for Kedah Pakatan Rakyat after discussions on the 36 seats allocation among its three partners for the next general election reached a deadlock.

Rocked by the ill-health of Menteri Besar Azizan Abdul Razak, which led to speculations of a stand-in leader, the alliance is now treading on thin ice because of uncompromising leaders.

Although the power of incumbency would likely give Pakatan an advantage over Barisan Nasional if the PAS-led state government agrees to dissolve the State Legislative Assembly and call for a state election, several Kedah leaders, it seems, are not on the same page.

Even the presence of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim yesterday failed to dissuade state Pakatan leaders to strike a compromise.

An insider privy to the discussions said: “We have yet to touch on the sensitive aspects of who would be our candidates and we are stuck about which party should contest where.

“We must move away from these protracted disagreements since an election is looming,” the insider added, who preferred to remain anonymous.

He also said that Anwar was visibly upset when he was informed about the lack of progress in the state-level discussions.

“Kedah Pakatan must get its act together as there are many cliques around Azizan who is seen to be more of a polarising figure rather than an accommodative one,” said the insider.

Anwar, who later held a press conference, said that Pakatan’s national leadership council would now deliberate seats allocation in Kedah since its leaders cannot reach an outcome.

It is learnt that the main contentious issue is the demand by DAP for more seats while PAS is unwilling to sacrifice some of its seats to PKR as it regards itself as the dominant party here.

“Both parties (PKR and DAP) gave their reasons for wanting the seats,” Anwar said, before his surprising announcement that the final decision on seats allocation would only be formally announced once the general election is called for.

DAP pushing for more seats

Among the several contentious issues in the state is the question of whether PAS would endorse Azizan as the man to lead Pakatan since there are concerns about his failing health.

There is also the trust factor among the three parties after four PKR leaders defected and also consolidating its territories in Kedah’s southern part (Kulim and Sungai Petani), where there is resentment towards Pakatan due to a lack of macro-economic activities there.

There is also the lack of a two-thirds majority in Kedah, as out of the 36 state seats here, Pakatan only has 20, BN 14 and there are two Independents in Lunas and Bakar Arang state seats respectively.

Sensing that things may go downhill if new measures are not adopted, Kedah DAP is now pushing for more seats so Pakatan can consolidate the Chinese and Indian electorate here.

Unlike in other states, the Chinese and Indians here feel sighted by the new policies of PAS such as raising the housing Bumiputera quota for new residential projects, lack of foreign direct investments and the recent proposal to ban entertainment outlets during Ramadan, which was swiftly shot down by the PAS national leadership.

In Kelantan, the Muslim population is about 96% but in Kedah, it is relatively lower at 80% because there is a sizeable number of non-Muslims in the state capital and southern Kedah.

“No states can be governed alike. We must look at each one and find ways to appease the respective state voters in their own unique ways.

“It took Kelantan two terms before they enacted a bylaw to curtail entertainment activities deemed as unIslamic. However in Kedah, they want it now,” the insider said.

In 2008, DAP contested two state seats, winning one in Kota Darulaman.

For the next election, the party wants four more state seats – Gurun, Bakar Arang, Lunas and Bakar Bata while it also wants to contest in the Alor Setar and Padang Serai parliamentary seats.

Kedah PKR is also weakened after it was hit by a spate of defections since 2008, beginning with Kulim MP Zulkifli Noordin followed by Lunas state assemblyman Mohd Radzhi Salleh, Bakar Arang state assemblyman Tan Wei Shu and a former close associate of Anwar, Padang Serai MP N Gobalakrishnan.