GEORGE TOWN, Jan 5 — Perikatan Nasional (PN) will start seat negotiations among its three component parties for the state polls in the weeks leading up to Chinese New Year, said the coalition’s deputy president Datuk Dominic Lau Hoe Chai.

Lau who is president of PN coalition party Gerakan said the negotiations will decide the seats that each component party will be contesting so that poll preparations can begin.

"This is to ease preparations for each constituency during state elections,” he said during a press conference at the Penang Gerakan headquarters here.

He said the coalition has been holding regular meetings twice a month to discuss preparations for the state polls which are expected to be called by middle of this year.

Six states — Kedah, Penang, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Kelantan and Terengganu — did not dissolve their respective state assemblies to hold state elections concurrently with the 15th general election last November.

The six states are expected to dissolve their respective state assemblies or be automatically dissolved when they reach full term sometime between May and August this year.

While seat negotiations will start in earnest this month, Lau said seat allocations will not be finalised until the day before nomination day.

"Based on experience from the elections before this, discussions on seat allocations can even change on the last day before nomination day,” he said.

However, Lau said the seat allocations are not as important as fielding winnable candidates.

"It is more important for us to select winnable candidates, and this is the main factor that will be used as a reference for the state elections,” he said.

Lau said they expect the state polls for all six states to be held after Hari Raya Aidilfitri which falls on April 21.

"It is the jurisdiction of the states on when to call for state polls but we are expecting them to be held in May,” he said.

On preparations for state polls in each of the states, he said, as the Penang PN chairman, he will lead the preparations in Penang.

PN will be contesting in all 40 state seats in Penang and the seat allocation among the component parties will be decided later, he said.

"We have formed a committee to prepare for the state elections and an information chief will be formed in each state to lead the election campaign for the respective state,” he said.

Earlier, he announced that PN will be holding a Chinese New Year Open House at the Gerakan headquarters in Kuala Lumpur on January 22.

He said this is the first Chinese New Year Open House organised by PN and welcomed the public to attend it.