MELAKA: Perikatan Nasional (PN) component parties are expected to finalise their seat negotiations for the Melaka state election this week.
Melaka PN Chairman Datuk Mohd Rafiq Naizamohideen said so far discussions involving the coalition's component parties - Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), PAS and Gerakan are ongoing smoothly with the three parties providing strong cooperation and mutual respect.
"God willing, the negotiations will be completed this week and the final decision on the distribution of seats can be reached," he said when met at the Gerai Prihatin Rakyat programme organised by PN at Taman Tangga Batu Perdana, Tanjung Kling near here today.
He however declined to reveal the number of seats expected to be contested by the three parties in PN.
"Sorry, we cannot yet state how many seats we will contest," he said.
He also explained that so far the seat consultation talks did not involve Umno which reportedly has yet to decide whether to work with PN or not in the state polls.
Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had previously remarked that the Barisan Nasional backbone will not work with Bersatu in the Melaka state election.
However, party secretary-general Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan was also reported to have said that the matter had not been finalised by the Umno Supreme Council.
In the 14th General Election (GE14), Bersatu which was then a component of Pakatan Harapan (PH) contested in six state seats and won two, namely Paya Rumput represented by Mohd Rafiq and Telok Mas represented by Datuk Noor Effandi Ahmad.
However, Noor Effandi has been sacked from Bersatu for withdrawing support for Chief Minister Datuk Seri Sulaiman Md Ali on Oct 4.
PAS contested 24 seats during GE14 but did not win a single seat whereas Gerakan did not nominate any candidates for the fray.
The Election Commission has set Nov 20 for the Melaka election with nomination on Nov 8.
