Veteran: Umno-PAS seat allocation should be expedited

The distribution of the rights to field candidates between Umno and PAS should be expedited, said Umno veterans club secretary Mustapha Yaakub.

When contacted, Mustapha said both parties needed time to prepare for the next general election.

"I think Muafakat Nasional should sort out seat allocations as soon as possible to reach a consensus. The sooner the better.

"Once it is done, both parties should explain to the grassroots why such decisions were made," he said.

PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man told Malaysiakini that both parties are fine-tuning a formula for seat distributions.

He said the matter would be discussed by the Muafakat Nasional technical committee before it is discussed by the grouping's central committee.

The thorny question of seat distributions between the two traditional rivals had cropped up again after Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi met his predecessor Najib Abdul Razak a week ago.

Zahid had declared that Umno was "prepared for GE15". This declaration came at a time when the Perikatan Nasional coalition was said to be weak while the opposition parties were attempting to cobble together a new government.

In the 2018 elections, PAS fielded 158 candidates for Parliament, of which many clashed with Umno's 120 candidates.

In most of those contests, Umno came up on top, winning 54 seats (45 percent win rate) while PAS won 18 seats (11.4 percent win rate).

Meanwhile, Mustapha proposed that both parties maintain the status quo for all seats won by Umno and PAS in the last general election.

"As for the seats in other areas, Umno and PAS can claim the rights based on their vote share during the last general election," he said.

The other method, said Mustapha, was for both parties to lay all seats on the table and use their discretion, especially in areas where both parties are equally popular. - Mkini