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ALOR GAJAH - Pakatan Harapan (PH) has urged Barisan Nasional (BN) to be upfront if it is not interested in negotiating a cooperation pact to face the Melaka state election.
PH election director Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari said no formal negotiations had taken place between the two coalitions so far, although the date for the dissolution of the Melaka State Legislative Assembly is drawing closer.
He said PH had no issue if BN chose not to cooperate, but the matter needed to be stated clearly so that it could make preparations based on the decision.
"So far, there has been no indication from BN (that it wants to hold negotiations) and now the dissolution is near.
"It appears that the meeting will not take place even though we have established contact. Now that dissolution is near, it is up to them.
"We are not sure, but perhaps they are not interested. So, we have no problem. If they are not interested, just tell us and we will proceed (with the next steps)," he said after launching the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Masjid Tanah election machinery on Sunday.
Amirudin said PH was continuing its preparations at party level without relying entirely on cooperation with BN, which had yet to finalise whether it would contest solo or form an alliance with other parties.
"We don't know because initially BN said it might go solo, then with Pas or PH. That may be to confuse its opponents and friends.
"Whatever it is, I have said that we are preparing for all scenarios, including contesting solo or forming an alliance with a new alignment or with Umno-BN," he said.
He said any final decision on a form of cooperation would still need to be brought before the PH Presidential Council for a decision.
He added that the matter had also been presented preliminarily at a previous PH meeting, with instructions for election preparations to continue.
"At the previous PH meeting, I presented some of it and the instructions were clear for us to continue preparations, launch the machinery, strengthen the team and ensure the areas we intend to contest.
"If there is still no agreement by the time of dissolution, we will proceed (to contest solo), but the final decision rests with the PH Presidential Council, where I will present all these scenarios.
"If there is information about the alignment, it will be done later," he said.
Meanwhile, commenting on the possibility of cooperation between PH and Bersatu under PH Plus, Amirudin said the matter still depended on discussions at state level.
"We are not sure about Bersatu yet. We first need to see the extent of discussions at state level between PH Melaka chairman Adly Zahari and the party.
"If there is an agreement, I will have to refer it to the central leadership, PH at the central level. If it is confirmed, we will proceed," he said.
