PAKATAN Harapan should wrap up the division of state seats among its components by the end of the month, Amanah vice-president Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa said.

The coalition’s central leadership is in the midst of negotiating with the parties how the seats would be distributed in several states, including opposition-controlled Penang and Selangor, after state division leaders failed to come to agreement.

“We are in the midst of settling a bulk of seats all over the country that have not been (distributed). 

“We have passed the negotiations to central PH for resolution. By the end of February, we should settle (the negotiations for state seats in all states),” he told The Malaysian Insight via WhatsApp.

Mujahid, who is Penang Amanah chief and one of the four state PH deputy chairmen, said this in response to a query on when the central PH leadership expected to to complete negotiations over Penang’s 40 state seats.

On Sunday, state PH chairman Lim Guan Eng said the coalition’s top leadership, meaning the leaders of Bersatu, DAP, Amanah and PKR, would settle talks on the distribution of Penang’s seats among the four parties.

DAP, which leads the Penang government, holds 19 seats and will be defending them in the coming general election. The same applies for PKR’s 10 seats. The sole PAS-held seat, Permatang Pasir will be left to Amanah to contest.

Bersatu, Amanah and PKR are eyeing the remaining 10 seats, which are Malay majority and held by Barisan Nasional’s Umno.

In the 2013 general elections, when PAS was allied to Pakatan Rakyat, the 10 seats were split between the Islamist party and PKR, except for the Sungai Acheh seat for which there was a multi-cornered fight due to both PKR and PAS being in the contest.

PKR had earlier indicated that it wished to take on the 16 seats it previously contested, while Amanah had wanted to take over all the six seats PAS had contested. 

New PH partner Bersatu, an Umno splinter party, meanwhile had been keen on contesting all 10 BN-held seats.

Earlier this week, a Bersatu source in Penang said talks at state level had failed to settle the division of several Malay seats. 

He said Bersatu was looking at Teluk Air Tawar, Sungai Dua, Penaga, Bertam, Sungai Acheh and Teluk Bahang, while PKR was also interested in the Sungai Acheh seat held by BN.

A local Amanah source said his party was interested in Permatang Berangan, Penaga, Sungai Dua, Bayan Lepas and Permatang Pasir.

However, Mujahid said “only one or two seats” in Penang were yet to be distributed.

In Selangor, there are more seats awaiting the PH central leadership’s attention. Out of 56 state seats, there are 21 seats to discuss and divide among the parties.

DAP deputy chairman Gobind Singh Deo said the 35 seats already settled were seats previously contested by his party, PKR and Amanah. – February 7, 2018.