Talks underway among PAS, Umno and Bersatu to avoid 3-way fights in Melaka

Negotiations and discussions to avoid three-cornered fights among PAS, Umno and Bersatu in the Melaka state election in November are currently underway, according to PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man.

He said there should be a consensus among the three parties, especially on the distribution of seats for the election to minimise clashes.

“If we can’t avoid (clashes) in one or two (seats), we have to face them. But at least there should not be too many three-cornered contests as this would be detrimental to all parties.

“Therefore we must have consensus, Insha Allah there will be a way out,” he told reporters after officiating the Selangor PAS building in Section 13, Shah Alam, last night.

Tuan Ibrahim said the parties need to focus on winning the state assembly seats in Melaka which have yet to be won by PAS, Umno or Bersatu.

He said PAS intends to contest five seats in Melaka, although this has yet to be finalised.

“PAS intends to contest five seats in Melaka and I mentioned to Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan that we will not take Umno seats.

“We have 28 seats in Melaka where Umno has 13 or 14 seats. So there are about 14 more seats that we can sit and discuss so that we can avoid clashes,” he said.

Meanwhile, he welcomed the new ruling announced by the health ministry regarding the ban on organising any activities, gatherings or social events related to the election until Nov 27 to reduce the risk of infection and a sudden spike in Covid-19 cases.

“Our intention is to avoid Covid-19 (outbreaks), and we did not even expect that there would be an election in Melaka. Because we have to hold an election, PAS will use the methods that are allowed (to campaign), whereby social media will be used a lot,” he said.