POST-SHERATON coup, the immediate need for Umno, PAS and Bersatu to have more seats to distribute among themselves will alter the political landscape in massive ways.

This piece predicts that the three parties will create “the pool” of 135 of the 165 Peninsula seats, taking away significant number of seats previously contested by Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties.

In the 2018 general election, of the 165 parliamentary seats in the Peninsula, Umno contested 105 seats, MCA (39), Gerakan (11) and MIC (9) and MyPPP (1).

MCA is likely to contest 28 seats (taking into account the six former Gerakan seats mentioned above) while MIC is likely to contest two seats.

If Gerakan’s seats are not counted, MCA’s contested seats are slashed from 39 to 22. 

Through this exercise, “the pool” for Umno, Bersatu and PAS to choose from will have an additional 30 seats to play with, in addition to the 105 seats Umno previously contested.

Among Umno, Bersatu and PAS, they will negotiate from “the pool” of 135 of the 165 Peninsula seats.

This change will significantly alter the political landscape.

Based on the previous Pakatan Harapan (PH) seat arrangement, DAP will likely to face Umno or Bersatu in Taiping, Teluk Intan, Puchong, Raub, Cameron Highland, Bangi, Segambut, Seremban, Bakri and Kluang.

Also basing on the 2018 PH seat deal, PKR will likely face Umno or Bersatu in Alor Setar, Padang Serai, Gopeng, Tg Malim, Kuantan, Hulu Selangor, Selayang, Ampang, Pandan, Petaling Jaya, Sg Buloh, Kapar, Wangsa Maju, Port Dickson, Segamat and Tebrau.

The idea of Barisan Nasional seat/power sharing is finally buried in the seat negotiation process of Perikatan Nasional due to the pressing need of more seats to distribute among Umno, PAS and Bersatu.

For DAP and PKR, contesting directly against Umno or Bersatu in significantly more seats than previously is the new scenario that these parties will have to adapt to. – July 19, 2020.

* Liew Chin Tong is DAP political bureau chairman and former deputy defence minister.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.