Amirudin tells Umno to ‘look in the mirror’ over sincerity in election seat talks

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 29 — PKR election director Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari has pushed back against Umno’s call for sincerity in future election negotiations, saying Barisan Nasional (BN) should first examine its own approach after Pakatan Harapan (PH) previously gave up seats it had won to accommodate its unity government partner.

Utusan Malaysia reported that Amirudin said negotiations would become difficult if one side imposed conditions before discussions had even begun.

He said PH had already demonstrated its willingness to compromise during previous state elections, including by allowing BN to contest constituencies in Selangor that had been won by PKR.

“We negotiated sincerely during the state elections, and we hope there will be the same sincerity when we hold discussions elsewhere. So remember, in Johor and Selangor, we sincerely gave way even in constituencies that we had won.

“Don’t impose conditions before discussions have even begun. If you say you will only contest seats that were lost, that makes things difficult. In Selangor, we gave BN seats that we had won.

“So when it comes to sincerity, you also have to look at yourself in the mirror. We are open to discussions, but everyone has to be sincere,” he told the national daily after officiating the Madani Kita programme with the Ampang Jaya community today.

His remarks came a day after Umno secretary-general Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said any negotiations with other parties over cooperation in the coming election must be based on sincerity and trust rather than threats or intimidation.

Amirudin, who is also Selangor menteri besar, said PH remained open to negotiating seat allocations, including constituencies beyond the 21 seats identified by Umno and BN.

“Those are indeed seats that we should consider [apart from the 21 seats]. But we will see how the discussions go. We have not even started discussions yet, so I do not want to get ahead of myself.

“But the point is that there has to be sincerity. We have negotiated sincerely before. We were even willing to share constituencies that we had won,” he said.

Amirudin also said he had been in contact with Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusoh, but was waiting for him to be ready to begin formal discussions.

“Rauf explained that he is waiting for several policy decisions at the Umno central and BN central levels before proceeding with discussions and so on,” he said.

Asked why PH was still prepared to work with BN despite BN having previously been described as “sakau”, a Malay term commonly used to suggest corruption or the plundering of public funds, Amirudin said such criticism had been directed at individuals rather than the party as a whole.

“It referred to individuals and not to an entire party, and we have the federal level to consider. That is why we have never said that we must work with Umno.

“We have to be prepared to cooperate with various parties. When Umno says it is willing to cooperate, okay, then we discuss it. If we were to take that view [of the entire party], we would already have changed the situation at the federal level,” he said.