Kedah Umno to hold political talks with Pas, not PN
KUALA LUMPUR: Kedah Umno will begin political cooperation talks with Pas, but not Perikatan Nasional (PN), said Kedah Umno information chief Datuk Shaiful Hazizy Zainol Abidin.
Kedah Umno is set to engage in political discussions with the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (Pas), but has ruled out negotiations with Perikatan Nasional (PN), according to Kedah Umno information chief Datuk Shaiful Hazizy Zainol Abidin. The state leadership has given an agreement to directly negotiate with Pas and will not engage with an unnamed small PN component, believed to be Parti Wawasan Negara, led by former Umno leader Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin.
Shaiful stated that Kedah Umno would entrust party decisions on its political direction entirely to party president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. He urged Zahid to restore Kedah Umno on the political map, acknowledging uncertainty over the number of seats it could secure in the negotiations. While Perak representative mentioned that Umno and Barisan Nasional could contest nine seats through negotiations, Kedah is unsure of the number of seats it could begin talks with.
Shaiful claimed Kedah Umno is election-ready, describing internal disagreements as minor and asserting that party members would rally behind the party's candidates. With the upcoming election, the focus is on ensuring candidates win. PN has dominated Kedah's political landscape, winning 33 out of 36 state seats in the 2023 state election and 14 out of 15 parliamentary seats in the 2022 general election.
The Barisan Nasional (BN) was entirely wiped out in both elections, with Pakatan Harapan securing the remaining three state seats and the Sungai Petani parliamentary seat.
Written by urgent.news from New Straits Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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