PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution today said a big challenge awaited the components when they decide on how to share seats to prevent clashes among themselves prior to the election which is due by middle of next year.
He said besides having a strong manifesto and sound policy, PH needs to instil confidence in voters by demonstrating that they can negotiate and reach agreements in an amicable manner.
“The people will have confidence if we manage our differing opinions, especially when it comes to determining the seat distribution,” he said at the Federal Territories (FT) PH Convention here.
He offered a formula towards achieving a favourable solution. “Old parties should not be stingy and new parties should not be greedy,” he said.
DAP and PKR are considered “old” components as they were part of the coalition’s precursor, the Pakatan Rakyat (PR), which was terminated in June 2015.
Amanah, a splinter of former PR component PAS, joined PH later after being rebranded from the Malaysian Workers’ Party in September 2015, while the PPBM, formed in August last year, was accepted into the coalition on March 20.
Saifuddin urged each of the “old parties” not to resort to excuses in demanding seats, like asserting its age or the experience of its members or the lengthy detentions its leaders had undergone under various laws.
“And the new parties should not be greedy in persisting that a seat belongs to them. We cannot have that.”
Saifuddin said the negotiations among the parties would give them the opportunity to contest fairly based on their potential to win.
“In the past, PAS had offered its seats to PKR (as a new party),” he said, adding that PPBM currently has only one parliamentary seat, Pagoh, whose MP is its president Muhyiddin Yassin.
“You don’t expect PPBM to contest just that one seat.”
He added that the coalition was also looking at a “bigger picture” by cooperating with other opposition parties to defeat BN.
“For example, we can cooperate with opposition parties in Sabah.
“We should not be greedy while negotiating with other parties that also consider themselves as part of the opposition.”
He added that parties which did not consider themselves as opposition were a “different story”, making a veiled reference to PAS whose leadership has fostered friendly ties with Umno over the last few months.