PN confident Melaka seat overlaps with BN can be resolved

Perikatan Nasional (PN) is confident that any overlapping seat claims with Barisan Nasional (BN) in Melaka can be settled amicably, even though the two coalitions have yet to begin talks on seat distribution.

PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said early-stage problems could be worked out without harming ties between the two sides.

"The important thing is that cooperation between BN and PN continues," he told FMT, referring to the understanding reached by both coalitions for the Johor and Negeri Sembilan state elections.

"We should not allow one or two seats to become an obstacle to this cooperation."

In last month's Johor state polls, PN asked its supporters to back BN in areas the coalition did not contest. For the Negeri Sembilan state election on Aug 1, PN and BN reached an understanding not to contest against each other.

Earlier, Syaza Shukri of the International Islamic University Malaysia told FMT that PN was likely to demand at least half of the 28 state seats to be contested in the coming Melaka state election.

She said the demand would largely be based on PN's success in winning three parliamentary seats in Melaka at the 2022 general election (GE15).

BN failed to win any parliamentary seat in Melaka at GE15, despite recording a big victory in the state election a year earlier. PN, meanwhile, won only two seats at the last state polls.

PAS president Hadi Awang recently said the form of BN-PN cooperation in the Melaka state election might differ from the understanding in Negeri Sembilan, depending on local political developments.

In response, Melaka BN chairman Ab Rauf Yusoh said the coalition was ready to consider cooperation with any party through the BN-Plus formula. However, he cautioned that negotiations would not necessarily produce an agreement.