Yesterday, a Youth wing member of Parti Amanah in Perak urged leaders of the new Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia to state which seats it intended to contest at the next general election.

Dr Mahathir had previously stated that the new party, which awaits formal registration, would help to form a “grand coalition” of opposition parties and take on the Barisan Nasional in one-to-one contests.

However, Safarizal Saleh, secretary of Perak Amanah Youth called for seat negotiations to begin immediately between opposition parties, as the new party would surely choose to contest against Umno: those were the same seats that PAS and Amanah were also eyeing.

Safarizal said the opposition parties have a chance to topple the Barisan Nasional in Perak. “Certainly, a one-on-one strategy is the best formula to achieve this goal and discussions should be held immediately,” he said yesterday.

He said Pakatan Harapan (which comprises the DAP, PKR and Amanah) and Pribumi Bersatu should commence early seat negotiations and make plans for mobilisation to ensure a strong challenge against BN.

He named Lubok Merbau, Manjoi, Pasir Panjang, and Selama as being among the key seats that the opposition could capture. They were won by the Barisan Nasional by a majority of less than 1,000 votes in 2013