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TANJUNG MALIM: The allocation of seats for the general elections among the members of the ruling Perikatan Nasional coalition should take into account the position of Barisan Nasional as the party with the most seats in the government, BN Secretary General Annuar Musa said.
He said BN was always open to discussions on the subject as long as the principles of their struggle are respected.
“We want the parties (in PN) to respect our position as the great party of always and give us a role commensurate with our status.
“BN will continue to interact with more parties before GE15 (the next general elections) and will be more open, especially with the 12 political parties in the PN government,” he told reporters after inaugurating the general assembly of the Indian Progressive Front in Slim River today.
Annuar said that seat negotiations between BN components had been concluded, but that they were continuing within Muafakat Nasional, which consists of BN, PPBM and PAS.
Last week, Annuar had said that BN had agreed that talks with PPBM should be accelerated to reach a consensus on the seats to be contested, while it had reached a 60-70% understanding with PAS after two rounds of talks.
On the proposal to include the IPF as a component of the BN, Annuar said that the party will remain a friend of the BN as no consensus has been reached among the components of the BN on the issue.
However, he said BN President Ahmad Zahid Hamidi did not rule out the possibility of allowing the IPF to compete in any seat that has a good chance of winning.
Annuar explains what Asyraf meant
Annuar also clarified a statement by Umno Youth leader Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki recently regarding the seat distribution talks. He said Asyraf’s comments had been misinterpreted.
He was reported to have said that the negotiations were no longer based on discussions between Umno and PAS, but between Barisan Nasional and Perikatan Nasional.
“What Asyraf wanted to say is the final consultation after this, because we respect the position of the PAS as a member of the PN, that’s what it means. So maybe in the negotiations, the PAS will be involved but on a PN platform.
“Similarly, on the Umno side, it would be BN, so once the negotiations between Umno, MCA, MIC, Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah have been done, then we already have a framework.
“Then we can sit together on behalf of BN and also PN, that is, at the level of the steering committee and the advisory committee chaired by Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan,” he said.
According to Annuar, Umno is still in negotiations with PAS and BN’s component parties, before the discussions on seats move to the next stage between BN and PN.
“Negotiations are ongoing and at the coalition level we will have discussions individually … Umno-PAS, Umno-MCA, Umno-MIC and Umno-PBRS, and the same applies to PN, and they also have four parties,” he said.
