PETALlNG JAYA , March 8 ― Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) and PAS will enter into negotiations on seat allocations in the next general elections, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said today.
Muhyiddin, who is PPBM president, confirmed the cosier ties between the two federal Opposition parties, which he said have ongoing discussions led by PPBM deputy president Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir and PAS deputy president Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man.
“So we have already received a new signal; PAS invited us to discuss seat allocations. That is a great way forward. There is progress and we will facilitate this in our meeting soon,” he said at the PPBM headquarters.
“So this is the development. However, we still feel a framework of cooperation with PAS must be clear and also take into account the cooperation that we have already formed with Pakatan Harapan,” Muhyiddin added, referring to the federal Opposition pact.
When asked how PPBM will deal with any possible clashes or overlaps in its two separate seat allocation talks with PAS and Pakatan Harapan, Muhyiddin said: “We will sort it out. We will try as much as possible to sort it out.”
PPBM has already identified the seats it will offer to contest and will resolve this in talks with the parties in Pakatan Harapan, he said.
“As a new party and because of the quite comprehensive support, we hope the leadership of parties in Pakatan Harapan will give us an important role.
“Especially to push our efforts to take over the seats that are now held by Umno, including Felda settlement areas and rural areas, we are confident of good support and it is highly likely ― if given the opportunity ― we can help the opposition parties in this new pact to win a number of seats to form government,” he said.
Muhyiddin declined to disclose how many seats that PPBM was interested in contesting, but said it gave careful consideration backed by data.
“As far as we are concerned, we analyse everything fairly and squarely and of course look at the probabilities of winning, whatever it is there are many considerations. Of course looking at the composition of voters ― Malay, Chinese, Indian, the GE13 results and what is the vote majority,” he said.
Noting that PPBM is still a new political party, Muhyiddin said it is better for it to be aware of its capabilities and focus on contesting only in Peninsular Malaysia.
“We have at the early stages decided we won't go into Sabah and Sarawak, to allow us to focus on Peninsular only,” he said.
While there are east Malaysians that have shown interest in PPBM by making online registrations to be members, the party may leave seats in Sabah and Sarawak to its allies, he said.
The 14th general elections must be held by 2018, but the federal government can also call for snap polls this year.
It is still unclear if and how PAS will cooperate with PPBM and PKR for the elections, as the Islamist party had previously said it will not work with those partnering DAP and Parti Amanah Negara.
DAP, Amanah and PKR are all part of Pakatan Harapan, which has agreed to work with PPBM.
