TTF: PPBM Selangor insists on contesting all 12 seats currently held by UMNO in the state. According to the party’s information chief, the move is necessary as PPBM was set up with the sole purpose of defeating and replacing UMNO come the 14th general election (see news item below). But none of that makes any sense to me.
The reason being, even PKR has been all about defeating and replacing UMNO ever since Dr Mahathir Mohamad resigned from government in 2003. Under the circumstances, there is absolutely no reason why Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail should give in to PPBM’s demands as it was Mahathir who brought about the current predicament she is in.
If anything, the former premier needs to appreciate the fact that she has been through four general elections as leader of an opposition party and probably knows the game better than him. Furthermore, should Pakatan Harapan actually win Selangor, both PPBM and PKR would collectively replace UMNO irrespective who wins how many seats and where. Remember, both parties comprise former UMNO members who either resigned or were ejected for some reason or other.
So you see, it makes no sense for PPBM to be so focused on the 12 UMNO seats instead of working towards a strategic win for Pakatan. To aim for that win, the correct thing to do would be to decide which party stands a better chance of winning which seat by focussing on demographics instead of UMNO. But the fact that PPBM isn’t willing to do that reeks of a sinister agenda – a well placed source revealed that Mahathir is dead sure UMNO and PAS will form a unity government just to prevent Pakatan from leading Selangor.
By using the excuse that that PPBM was set up to defeat and replace UMNO, the former premier hopes to maximise the party’s representation in Selangor by contesting as many seats as possible. Then, once UMNO and PAS form government, he would negotiate the defection of all PPBM reps to UMNO on condition that Dato’ Seri Mukhriz Mahathir be reinstated as UMNO member and thereafter, the Menteri Besar of Kedah.
(edited at 2.45pm, 9/2/2018)
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SHAH ALAM: The seat allocation disputes among Pakatan Harapan (PH) component parties in Selangor seem to have intensified when Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) Selangor insisted on contesting the 12 state seats, currently held by Umno, in Selangor in the 14th general election (GE14).
Prior to this, the Selangor PKR had also announced to contest those 12 seats.
Selangor PPBM Information chief Sallehudin Amiruddin said the party’s intention to contest the 12 state seats was in line with the original objective of the party’s establishment, that is to defeat Umno in the GE14.
“We will not back off, not even for one seat, we will contest all the 12 seats.
“Therefore, we submitted our proposal to contest the 12 Umno seats to the Selangor PH chairman to decide in the next meeting,” he told reporters after attending the Selangor PH meeting on the allocation of state seats here today.
The meeting was chaired by Selangor PH election director Dr Xavier Jayakumar.
The negotiation on the seat allocation was supposed to be finalised on Jan 31, but was extended for another week due to the disputes.
Source: The Malay Mail Online
