Telly Tubby & Sembooreet may well be in trouble

Malaysiakini:

Seat talks: Little room for Bersatu as Umno lays ground rules

As Perikatan Nasional (PN) ties become increasingly complicated, a new dimension in Umno and Bersatu's relationship has emerged which might muddy the ties further.

The Umno supreme council recently decided on the ground rules for seat negotiations with Muafakat Nasional allies PAS and Bersatu.

Councilmember Zahidi Zainul Abidin told reporters last Wednesday that BN, a coalition which Umno leads, will field candidates for every seat it won in 2018, including the seats currently held by some Bersatu MPs.

When contacted for clarification, Zahidi explained that the ground rules set by Umno's supreme council for seat negotiations - only in Peninsular Malaysia - are as follows:

- BN must field candidates for all 51 seats which it won in 2018;

- BN will not field candidates for 13 seats which Bersatu won in 2018; and

- BN will field candidates for any seats which PKR, DAP and Amanah won in 2018 where BN came in second.

This starting position by Umno for seat negotiations poses two major problems for its ally Bersatu.

Firstly, of Bersatu's 31 current MPs, 15 won their seats on a BN ticket before defecting between 2018 and 2019.

Secondly, of Bersatu's 31 MPs, 10 won their seats on a PKR ticket where the BN candidate placed second.

In other words, Umno wants BN to field candidates for 25 seats currently held by Bersatu.

Wakakaka, some of the interesting seats claimed by UMNO are:

• Ampang - Zuraida Kamaruddin
• Bandar Tun Razak - Kamarudin Jaffar
• Batu Pahat - Rashid Hasnon
• Gombak - Azmin Ali
• Indera Mahkota - Saifuddin Abdullah
• Nibong Tebal - Mansor Othman
• Segamat - Edmund Santhara
• Larut - Hamzah Zainuddin