PH-BN pact must win big to form stable govt, says Penang CM

 

Chow Kon Yeow speaking to the press. With him is Penang Umno chief Musa Sheikh Fadzir.

BUKIT MERTAJAM: In a rare scene that saw DAP and Umno leaders rubbing shoulders in Penang, the unity government declared that it will not only work to keep all the seats held by the parties but also add a few more.

Penang chief minister Chow Kon Yeow, flanked by state Umno chief Musa Sheikh Fadzir, who was once his bitter rival, urged Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) to strengthen their alliance in order to maintain the 37-seat victory achieved in the 2018 polls.

“With the state polls approaching, the election machinery of both coalitions must be ready to win big and add more seats in the 40-seat legislature,” he said at the state DAP Aidilfitri open house in Juru, attended by the state BN top brass here.

PH won 37 seats in the last election, with BN winning two and PAS one. Following a political realignment in 2020, the ruling coalition’s number was reduced to 33 after two PKR representatives left the party to join Bersatu.

“We have 30 days to the dissolution of the assembly and another 60 days to the polls. We must work not only to keep the status quo, but also add new seats so that the next state government would be a solid one,” Chow said.

The Penang government’s Aidilfitri open house saw once bitter rivals from Umno and DAP rubbing shoulders.

He said both PH and BN must take heed of what voters wanted, which was a break from the political instability that had rocked the country for the past three years.

He said both coalitions had completed their second round of negotiations on state seats. The focus now was on a few seats with overlapping claims.

Musa, who spoke to the media later, said the negotiations were being done in the spirit of friendship between PH and BN.

He also rubbished a claim by PN’s election director Sanusi Nor that the opposition would win all Malay seats in Penang, telling him not to be overconfident.

Earlier, DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng had dismissed as “empty talk” PN’s assertion that 80% of voters in the six states facing elections supported their cause.

He also highlighted that there was nothing unusual about Umno and DAP urging their supporters to back each other in the polls, given that Bersatu and PAS had asked their supporters to back DAP in earlier alliances. - FMT