SHAH ALAM: The seat distribution between Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) for the upcoming state elections has been finalized, with Barisan receiving more than 20% of the 56 seats being contested, according to Selangor Pakatan Chairman Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari.
Amirudin, who is also the Selangor Mentri Besar, stated that the seat distribution was agreed upon by Pakatan Chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Barisan Chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
“The remaining seats will be contested by Pakatan candidates, which will be decided based on the party’s seats prior to the dissolution of the state assembly,” he said during an exclusive interview with Bernama, taking into account the current political landscape, the relative strength of parties in the Unity Government coalition, and the potential for collaboration between the two parties.
Amirudin added that this distribution was well-received by both parties, considering all of these factors.
Previously, Barisan had expressed its aim to contest at least 14 seats in the upcoming elections, considering that Pakatan had won 16 out of the 22 parliamentary seats in Selangor in the 15th General Election (GE15) held in November last year.
During GE14 in 2018, Barisan won four state seats: Sungai Air Tawar, Sungai Burong, Sungai Panjang, and Hulu Bernam. They also took the Semenyih seat from Pakatan in a by-election held in 2019.
Regarding the candidates to be fielded by Pakatan, Amirudin said the list is still being studied and requires several more rounds of discussions at the state level. The final candidates will be those who meet the winning criteria and maintain the momentum of Pakatan’s representation throughout the state administration. In addition to retaining incumbents, Pakatan will also introduce new faces, including women, youth, politicians, and professionals.
“As I have mentioned before, we will try to balance between candidates who have long contributed to their respective constituencies and introduce new faces to ensure the continuity of the Pakatan administration in Selangor,” he stated.
Selangor has a total of 3,747,057 voters and will hold elections concurrently with five other states – Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu, Penang, and Negri Sembilan – on August 12.
In GE14, Selangor Pakatan secured 51 seats, followed by Barisan and PAS with four and one seat, respectively.
Prior to the dissolution of the state assembly, Pakatan held 40 seats (PKR-19, DAP-15, Amanah-6), Barisan held five seats, Bersatu held four, Parti Bangsa Malaysia held two, while PAS, Pejuang, and Warisan each held one seat. There was also one independent representative.
An additional seat in Batang Kali was declared vacant after the elected representative failed to attend assembly sittings for over six months. – Bernama
Credit: The Star : News Feed
