Perikatan Nasional will continue to exclude estranged component member Bersatu from its electoral negotiations with BN, while also opening the door to further cooperation with the coalition, this time in Perak.
PN has indicated it is ready to sit down and discuss a partnership in Perak, which could mark a significant leap forward for the BN-PN alliance.
PN secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan said Bersatu would not be part of the coalition’s negotiations with BN for the Malacca state election.
He also said that negotiations for Malacca would differ from those in Negeri Sembilan because each state has its own circumstances.
"For example, in Malacca we (PAS) have no state seats, but we have Parliament seats.
"All this will be the basis of our talks. Will they (BN) want to maintain 20 or 21 seats, including Rembia whose incumbent joined PAS," Takiyuddin (above) was quoted as saying by Berita Harian last night.
BN has been adamant that it will defend 21 of Malacca’s 28 state seats despite failing to win any Parliament seats in the state during the 15th general election.
Instead, Pakatan Harapan and PN each won three Parliament seats in Malacca.
Of PN’s three seats, two - Jasin and Tangga Batu - were won by PAS, while Masjid Tanah was won by then-Bersatu leader Mas Ermieyati Samsudin.
Mas Ermieyati is now aligned with Bersatu-splinter party Wawasan Negara, although she is not yet a member.
Wawasan is also keen to contest Sungai Udang and Bemban, two state seats that Bersatu won in the last state election.
The Rembia seat could also complicate negotiations between BN and PN.
Its incumbent, Jailani Khamis, first won the seat in 2018 as a Bersatu member before defecting to Umno in 2021, ahead of that year’s state election.
Jailani then defected to PAS in 2024.
Give and take needed
On the Perak front, PN chief Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar said he is ready to talk with BN on cooperation, stressing that there will have to be some give and take.
But for now, he said, cooperation between the two in Perak is just hypothetical.
"Until we sit down and talk, anything can happen," he added.
PN has 26 seats in Perak, compared to just nine for BN, while Harapan has 24. Thirty seats are needed to form a state government there.
In the aftermath of GE15, Harapan chose to back BN and let them lead the state government despite having superior numbers, in what was the first step towards a Harapan-BN partnership at the federal level.
This balance of power will likely be a major hurdle that BN and PN need to clear if they want to be partners in Perak.
In the meantime, however, Perak Menteri Besar Saarani Mohamad has said that the BN-Harapan state government will remain in power until the legislature is dissolved - dismissing any possibility of a change in power without polls. - Mkini
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