PAKATAN Harapan (PH) risks losing control of Selangor if it does not cooperate with Barisan Nasional (BN) in the state polls, Selangor Umno Youth chief Mohd Imran Tamrin said. 

Imran said BN, which currently holds five seats, would also lose everything if it did not play ball with PH. 

He told The Malaysian Insight that PH still needed BN even though the latter’s performance had declined since its defeat in the 2008 general election. 

“Without Umno and BN, PH may also lose the state of Selangor… same with Umno and BN. 

“If we go solo in this state election, we may not be able to win many seats and we may also not be able to form a joint government.” 

Imran drew attention to the fact that the last time BN won big in Selangor was in the 2004 state elections where it snared 54 of the 56 seats available. 

Since then, its share of seats has steadily decreased in subsequent elections – 20 seats in 2008, 12 in 2013, and four in 2018. 

BN won the Semenyih by-election a year later, taking its current total to five seats. 

PH won 36 seats in 2008, increasing the number to 44 in 2013 and 51 in 2018. 

The coalition lost some seats following the defection of Bersatu to form Perikatan Nasional (PN) with PAS and Gerakan. 

Imran said the last general election showed that PN was able to threaten BN and PH with its successful capture of six parliamentary seats in Selangor: Sabak Bernam, Sungai Besar, Tanjung Karang, Hulu Selangor, Kapar, and Kuala Langat. 

Some of the state seats in these parliamentary constituencies have Malay majorities and if the last general election trend continued, PN could win them, he added. 

PH and BN have little choice but to work together and consolidate their respective vote banks, said the Sungai Panjang assemblyman. 

“So, every party has the same responsibility; we cannot say Umno can stand without PH, or PH can stand without Umno or BN,” he added. 

Imran also suggested that the two coalitions work around their differences. 

PH and BN had worked together with Gabungan Parti Sarawak and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah to form a unity government after the last general election showed that no party had the majority to form a government. 

The first unity government convention was held on Sunday at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur. 

“This collaboration (in the unity government) was officially sealed on May 14, through the convention,” Imran said. – May 16, 2023.