SHAH ALAM, Nov 28 — PKR deputy president Azmin Ali said today that it is an absolute necessity to have the opposition meet Barisan Nasional (BN) in straight fights the next general election.
He said that all opposition parties must come to a consensus during seat negotiations that there cannot be three-cornered fights, which he acknowledged would split support and give an easy victory to the ruling pact.
“It’s not about whether we can or we can’t, we have to resolve if we want to get Putrajaya, we must to resolve this matter now,” he told reporters at the Keadilan National Congress 2015
“It has happened because in a democratic system we have to give and take, only then will you have the mutual respect and mutual understanding to work towards a consensus. I was a prime mover of those negotiations in the past, so I know it would not be easy.”
The PKR leader said that the problem of overlapping seats during negotiations is common during elections but stressed that the opposition must resolve this to keep their fight against BN and Umno “one-on-one”.
“This is all a matter of discussing it. As long as we prioritise the needs of the country and the people and put aside individual or party interests,” he said.
The country’s opposition front today remains fragmented, with parties DAP, PKR and newly-formed Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) in one pact - Pakatan Harapan - and PAS on its own.
The pact was formed in September without PAS to replace Pakatan Rakyat (PR), which fell apart following a fallout between PAS and the DAP over key ideological issues.
Although Pakatan Harapan has extended an invitation to PAS, the Islamist party has snubbed the offer to join the pact, with some leaders even suggesting the possibility of working with Umno on some matters.
Azmin yesterday expressed his confidence in Pakatan Harapan and PAS eventually working together in the future despite the animosity between PAS and Amanah.
