Amirudin awaits word from Ab Rauf to start Melaka polls talks

 PH election director Amirudin Shari says he was told by the Melaka BN chief to wait until BN’s central leadership decides on the party’s cooperation strategy.

PH election director Amirudin Shari said any political cooperation must be based on sincerity, without imposing conditions before negotiations begin.

PETALING JAYA:

Pakatan Harapan election director Amirudin Shari is waiting for Melaka Barisan Nasional chairman Ab Rauf Yusoh to begin formal talks on political cooperation in the state election.

Amirudin said he had spoken to Ab Rauf, but the Melaka BN chief wanted to wait for policy decisions from Umno and BN’s central leadership before proceeding with further discussions, Bernama reported.

“I have actually been in contact with him. He said he is waiting for several policy decisions at the Umno and BN central levels before continuing the discussions,” he was quoted as saying after officiating the Madani Kita Bersama Komuniti Ampang Jaya programme here today.

Amirudin said any political cooperation must be based on sincerity, without imposing conditions before negotiations begin.

“In Selangor, we gave BN seats that we had won (for the 2023 state election),” he said.

BN chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi initially said BN and Perikatan Nasional would continue their alliance in the Melaka polls after their convincing victory in the Negeri Sembilan state election.

However, this appeared to have reached an impasse after Zahid said BN wanted to contest the 21 seats it won in the last Melaka election, while PN contended that negotiations were ongoing.

Zahid said BN was still open to talks on seat allocation and even exchanging seats, as long as negotiations were done honestly and sincerely.

Melaka has 28 state seats. In the 2021 state election, BN won 21 seats to form the state government, while PH won five, and PN two. - 

The state government’s term is due to expire on Dec 31. - FMT