SELANGOR Umno hopes to contest at least half of the more than 30 Malay-majority seats in the state, its youth wing leader Mohd Imran Tamrin said.

He said this is, however, subject to negotiations with Umno’s new ally, Pakatan Harapan (PH).

There are 56 seats in the Selangor legislative assembly, of which Umno holds five.

“The seat negotiations are ongoing. Seats that we want are in the Malay-majority areas. There are 33 such seats,” he said.

“Negotiations are on 15-20 seats, but the number that will be given to us is up to the leadership.

“(Hopefully) we will contest the five we have now. There are another five or six seats that we are looking to contest. The target may be around 10 seats.”

Imran also reminded that the number of seats should not be used as a point of contention because priority should be given to preventing Perikatan Nasional (PN) from capturing Selangor.

“In that spirit, there has to be some form of tolerance. It’s not about how many seats are contested, but how many seats can be won,” he said.

Imran said the results of the general election last November should be seen as a challenge because the rise of PN saw it winning six parliamentary seats in Selangor.

But he believes the political landscape is gradually changing ahead of the state elections.

“If you look at the context of the general election, it will be a challenge for Barisan Nasional (BN) in facing the state polls, especially in the six parliamentary constituencies won by PN,” he said.

“Today’s political landscape is different from that of the general election. At the time, we had three-cornered contests. The candidates were divided into three major parties, namely PH, BN and PN.

“But this time around, the voters will see a new format and landscape, most likely two sides. It is almost certain, either PH against PN, or BN against PN.”

On April 8, PH announced that the coalition and Umno/BN have agreed that all the incumbent seats will remain with the party that won in the 2018 general election for the upcoming six state polls.

Selangor PH secretary Mohd Khairuddin Othman said on April 10 that the coalition had never discussed handing over some of its seats to be contested by BN.

In the 2018 polls, PH secured 40 seats in Selangor while BN won five.

The others are held by Bersatu (4), PAS (1), PBM (2), Warisan (1) and Pejuang (3). Only Bersatu and PAS are expected to challenge PH and BN in the upcoming polls under the PN pact.

Seat talks after Raya

Imran also said it is meaningless for either PH or BN to contest many seats but fails to achieve the aim of impeding PN’s advances.

“We are currently exploring opportunities for collaboration with a unity government format between the machinery of PKR, Amanah and DAP and that of BN,” he said.

In that effort, BN aims to win back the support of Malay voters, after the coalition was rejected by the people in the November general election, he said.

“We are relying on the votes of our own members and supporters as well as those from PH, especially the non-Malay voters and supporters,” he said.

“This will show again the spirit of BN, a pluralistic society that includes Malays, Chinese, Indians and others.”

Selangor Umno deputy communications chairman Johan Abdul Aziz said the distribution of seats for the upcoming state elections has yet to be finalised.

Negotiations with PH will resume after the Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations, he said.

Johan told The Malaysian Insight that Selangor BN does not agree on the distribution of seats according to the areas held by the parties.

“If only five seats are to be given to BN, I don’t agree,” he said.

“If the negotiations decide to maintain the status quo, if five are for BN, then this kind of negotiation is not appropriate.”

Selangor PH chairman Amirudin Shari was also reported to have said that seat negotiations are ongoing but are expected to be completed by early next month. – April 23, 2023.