Penang Pakatan to meet Umno for the second time next week, says Kon Yeow
GEORGE TOWN, May 9 — Penang Pakatan Harapan (PH) will be meeting with Umno for the second time next week to finalise discussions on the upcoming state polls, said Chow Kon Yeow.
The Penang PH chairman said they will be discussing the division of seats and other issues related to the upcoming state elections.
“We have not fixed a date yet, but it will be soon, maybe this week or next week,” he told a press conference after attending the swearing-in ceremony of the new Penang Island City Council mayor at City Hall today.
Penang PH and Penang Umno had reached an agreement not to run against each other in the upcoming state polls after they held a meeting on May 2.
Chow said they hope to reach more agreements during the second meeting with Umno.
He said the results of the first meeting with Umno have yet to be brought to the national PH leadership.
“As long as we can finalise any discussions at the state level, we will report the final decisions reached to the coalition leadership,” he said.
He said they do not hope to meet Umno more than twice as they want to finalise all discussions as soon as possible.
Two weeks ago, Chow said that Umno will be given the chance to defend its two state seats in Penang.
The Penang chief minister said PH will defend its own seats, while the sole seat held by the Opposition is up for discussion.
Penang has a total of 40 state seats, and in the 2018 general election, PH won 37 seats, when Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia was still part of PH.
BN has two seats, Sungai Dua and Permatang Berangan, while PAS has one seat, Penaga.
After Bersatu left the PH coalition and two PKR assemblymen were fired from the party and later joined Bersatu, the four seats — Seberang Jaya, Sungai Acheh, Teluk Bahang and Bertam — fell under Perikatan Nasional (PN).
However, the four were ejected from the state legislative assembly in March after a motion was approved to force them to vacate their seats in accordance with the state’s anti-hopping law.
