Penang Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman Chow Kon Yeow has introduced that the coalition is open to including Umno leaders within the next state administration if they return to energy. However, these Umno leaders should first safe their seats within the state election, which is anticipated to happen in July.
Chow, who is also the chief minister of Penang, clarified that if the Umno leaders do not win any seats, they would not be included in the state exco lineup. No risk is as a outcome of absence of any legal guidelines allowing the appointment of latest members with no seat.
Chow’s assertion comes in response to Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s keynote tackle at the Umno annual general assembly, by which he expressed the party’s want for representation within the three PH states of Penang, Selangor, and Negeri Sembilan.
According to Chow, Zahid’s statement reflects the present political landscape in Malaysia, where former rivals PH and Barisan Nasional (BN) are partners in the nationwide unity authorities. “ Confessions are in cooperation mode at the federal level these previous seven months and the cooperation at state level could be additional strengthened in the upcoming state elections,” he said.
Chow additionally acknowledged that the cooperation between PH and BN will continue during the state polls. As for seat negotiations with BN, he mentioned that discussions are still ongoing even after a quantity of rounds of negotiations, as not all seats offered to the respective parties may satisfy every party. “The final decision of the seat negotiations might be decided by the presidential council,” he added..