PETALING JAYA: PPBM today responded to Barisan Nasional’s (BN) announcement that it intends to defend all of its traditional seats in the next election, with a member of its Supreme Council saying the days in which Malay voters supported a single Malay party are over.
Wan Mohd Shahrir Abdul Jalil said the understanding for negotiations among Perikatan Nasional (PN) components is that any seat currently belonging to a party should remain with it even if it was gained through the “migration” of the MP in question.
Adding that nothing had been finalised on the matter of seat allocations, Wan Mohd who is also Pahang PPBM chief said his party would stand by this requirement before any further progress in negotiations.
“The era of Malays voting for a single Malay party is over,” he told FMT. “We need checks and balance.
“And the most successful entity is the one that adapts to its surroundings. Not the mighty, big, strong and many.”
BN secretary-general Annuar Musa had made the statement following an uproar in Umno over remarks by a former member playing down the party’s popularity in Sabah.
He said BN wanted to defend all its traditional seats regardless of whether they were “won in the 14th general election or won in previous elections”.
The former member, Mersing MP Abd Latiff Ahmad, crossed over to PPBM after the May 9 election in 2018.
Although he later apologised for his remarks, they sparked a reaction from Umno leaders including party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi who said yesterday that the Mersing seat belonged to Umno.
BN adviser Najib Razak meanwhile said that Umno would “take Mersing back”.
But Wan Mohd warned that choosing to defend its traditional seats could cause a three-cornered fight between Umno, PN and Pakatan Harapan.
Should this happen, he added, “Umno will stand alone”. - FMT
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