PARTIES STILL NEGOTIATING
It is still unclear who the various coalitions will pick as their partners for the Melaka polls.
While BN and PN’s dominant party, the Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) cooperated in Negeri Sembilan, their leaders have not agreed on how they would contest in Melaka.
BN has reportedly said it will defend all seats it won in the last polls. Ab Rauf said on Aug 2 that Melaka BN remained open to working with other political parties under a “BN Plus formula”, but cautioned that discussions would not necessarily lead to an agreement as it would depend on each party’s strengths.
Following BN-PN’s victory in Negeri Sembilan, BN chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the mandate allowed the two coalitions to “continue the blue and dark blue wave” to spread to the Melaka state, referring to the respective party colours of BN and PN.
But PAS has said it plans to contest 16 of Melaka’s 28 seats, including Tanjung Bidara, which is led by BN’s Ab Rauf, reported Free Malaysia Today.
PAS’ leader Abdul Hadi Awang said both coalitions could reach a different type of understanding for the Melaka polls.
Hadi said while BN had 20 seats in the 28-member Melaka state assembly – a BN assemblyman reportedly hopped from BN to PAS in 2023 – BN held none of the state’s seats in the federal parliament.
In contrast, of Melaka’s six federal parliamentary seats, PAS holds two, PH three and the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) one. Bersatu remains a PN component party despite a fracture with PAS, and contested the Negeri Sembilan election on its own.
As for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s PH, its Melaka chapter is finalising negotiations, including with Bersatu, to form a “PH Plus” collaboration. Talks involving Bersatu will be handled by PH election director Amirudin Shari, said Anwar on Sunday.
Another ingredient could be in the mix for the Melaka state election: Last Friday’s decision by the king to allow former Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest, conditional on him paying a RM50 million (US$12.26 million) fine.
Analysts earlier told CNA Najib’s conditional pardon could give a boost to BN, given the influence the 73-year-old still wields there.
The conditional pardon prompted Transport Minister Anthony Loke of PH to offer to resign from Anwar’s Cabinet. Loke said the conditional pardon was “difficult to accept” for his Democratic Action Party (DAP) and “many Malaysians”.
Anwar has said he would meet Loke to hear his views before deciding whether to accept his resignation.
Analysts said they would be keeping an eye on who BN works with in Melaka, or if it goes solo.
“It will be interesting to see who UMNO picks to work with in the election because (party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi) said once the state assembly is dissolved, discussions can be held either with PH or PN,” said Azmi Hassan, a senior fellow at the Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research.
“PH seems to be keen to work with UMNO, but UMNO doesn’t seem so keen. That’s the reason why PH and Bersatu will work together,” he said.
To Syaza Shukri, a political scientist at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), the “biggest significance is looking at how – if – anyone can truly offer stability”.
“It seems that the UMNO-PAS understanding has not fully materialised to a stable regime. Even in terms of cooperation, it looks flimsy,” she said.
“So if in Melaka they can figure out a formula that works, that could maintain stability through this grand coalition; that would be the blueprint,” Syaza said.
Adib Zalkapli of Viewfinder Global Affairs, a geopolitical consultancy, said the BN-PN seat negotiations will not be easy.
“BN may have to sacrifice safe seats in Melaka in return for national cooperation with PN at the next general election,” he said.
He also said the state election would be another challenge for Anwar and PH, who have not recovered from their defeats in Johor and Negeri Sembilan.
Additional reporting by Rashvinjeet S Bedi and Izzah Aqilah Norman
