‘Greedy’ BN wanted Pahang MB, 7 exco posts, says Saifuddin

 

Saifuddin Abdullah claims Perikatan Nasional faced various stumbling blocks as it tried to negotiate with Barisan Nasional.

PETALING JAYA: Pahang Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Saifuddin Abdullah has hit out at Barisan Nasional (BN), claiming it was ‘greedy’ by making unreasonable demands during talks on the formation of the state government.

He said despite being the minority with respect to the number of seats won in the general election (GE15), BN demanded the menteri besar’s post and most of the executive councillor posts too.

“BN demanded to have the menteri besar’s post and seven executive councillor posts, leaving only one executive councillor post for PN. This is despite BN being the minority,’ he said in a Facebook post.

Saifuddin added that BN did not respect the people of Pahang who gave “overwhelming support to PN” in the recent polls.

“This shows the greedy nature of BN and Umno, who wish to discard the people’s mandate.”

In GE15, PN won 17 state seats in Pahang, BN (16) and Pakatan Harapan (8).

Yesterday, Pahang Pakatan Harapan (PH) chief Amirudin Shari said the coalition had agreed to form a state government with BN.

He added that the two coalitions, which are also part of the unity government at the federal level, now had a simple majority in the 42-seat state assembly to form the Pahang government.

One state seat remains to be decided in Pahang. The Election Commission (EC) postponed polling for the Tioman state seat in Pahang after the PN candidate died on the morning of the general election on Nov 19.

The polls in Tioman will take place on Dec 7, with early voting on Dec 3. - FMT