Don’t rely on past polls for BN-PN seat formula, says Kedah Umno

Kedah Umno information chief Shaiful Hazizy Zainol Abidin has advised against basing the seat allocation formula between Barisan Nasional (BN) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) solely on the results of the last state election. He contends that the political landscape and public opinion are in flux, rendering past election data an unsuitable basis for determining seat distribution or the nature of cooperation within Kedah.

Commenting on the matter of seat allocation in Kedah should the understanding between BN and PN from the Johor and Negeri Sembilan state elections be extended to other states, Shaiful stated that the formula must be grounded in the present circumstances. He was responding to the question of how BN and PN should proceed with seat negotiations, given that the latter holds all 36 of Kedah's state assembly seats, while the former has no parliamentary or state representation in the state.

The last Kedah state election in 2023 saw BN, in coalition with Pakatan Harapan (PH), failing to secure a single seat, while PN emerged victorious with 33 out of 36 seats, and PH claimed the remaining three. Currently, Kedah Umno is taking a "wait-and-see" stance on the potential collaboration with PN, having not yet engaged in discussions or received directives from their party's leadership.

However, should they receive instructions, Kedah Umno is open to cooperation within the agreed framework. BN and PN had previously collaborated in the Negeri Sembilan state election, eventually forming the state government after securing 25 of the 36 state assembly seats together.