PAKATAN Harapan has formed a special committee to look into the distribution of seats between its parties in Selangor, coalition chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad said.

He said Selangor PH’s  failure to finalise seat allocations in the state was because of a “misunderstanding” over the correct platform to hold negotiations, he said.

“There was some misunderstanding as to which body should be looking at the division of the constituencies. They entrusted it to the election committee. But it should be a special committee.

“We’ve set up this special committee and they will take over and the problem will be resolved,” said the PH candidate for prime minister during a press conference at Bersatu’s office in Petaling Jaya today.

It was reported that seat negotiations in PKR-governed Selangor were in a state of confusion as component parties DAP, PKR, Amanah and Bersatu disagreed about whether the negotiations had even begun. 

Mentri Besar Mohamed Azmin Ali yesterday said Selangor PKR itself had yet to finalise its seats and candidates.

Dr Mahathir also brushed aside the ruckus at the Negri Sembilan PH convention, where Bersatu members had disrupted the meeting.

“There is a little bit of dissatisfaction there, but the strange thing is the division that got the seat is the one that made a lot of noise. The division that didn’t get anything did not complain at all,” said the 92-year-old former prime minister.

On seat negotiations in other states, Dr Mahathir said they were still ongoing.

“But I’m confident when GE14 is called we will be able to nominate one candidate for every Parliament and state constituency. We are closing ranks as a coalition so that we can challenge BN.”

He said the PH presidential council looked at the progress of negotiations in Sabah and was satisfied with the efforts there.

“We have DAP and PKR in Sabah, who already have a working relationship there. And we know about Warisan and do not want to clash with them. So, a working relationship between PH and Warisan is possible,” he added.

Earlier, Dr Mahathir said the PH presidential council had discussed various issues pertaining to its registration status with the Registrar of Societies (RoS) and the various reports pertaining to seat negotiations.

“Until now, there has been no answer or acknowledgement from RoS. This is purposely done so that we waste our time and cannot prepare for the elections. 

“It is done so that we don’t know if we can use our logo and don’t know if our party is registered. This a betrayal of the people, as they are not allowed to vote for their leaders the way they (their leaders) want to,” he said. – January 30, 2018.