JOHOR BARU: The Melaka state elections will be an indicator for the Umno and PAS alliance for the upcoming general election under the Muafakat Nasional banner, says Tan Sri Noh Omar.

       The Umno supreme council member said he was part of the seat allocation discussion where both sides could not find a common ground.

       “The party that won the seats in the last election must keep it while the balance should be divided equally, but we did not find a meeting point in resolving it.

       “This has led to a three-cornered fights with PAS, which is unavoidable, in the Melaka state elections,” he added.

       Noh Omar, who is also Entrepreneur Development and Cooperative Minister, said this in a press conference after officiating SME Bank southern region Jom Xcess program held here on Sunday (Nov 7).

       The Tanjong Karang MP, who is also Selangor Umno chief, said that the state Umno wanted to stick to Muafakat Nasional with their PAS counterparts for the sake of unity.

       “However, we could not achieve it for the Melaka state elections resulting in multi-cornered fights where the election will become an indicator for the general election.

       “We will see which side stands to gain and which side would be the most affected by it,” he added.

       Recently, PAS announced it would contest under the Perikatan Nasional logo in the Melaka state elections.

       Perikatan would be contesting in all 28 state seats where PAS were given eight seats while Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia would be contesting in 15 seats and Gerakan are contesting in five seats.

       Barisan Nasional are also contesting 28 seats in the Melaka state elections with Umno getting 20 seats, MCA (seven) and MIC would be fielded in one seat.

       PAS and Umno had previously signed the Muafakat Nasional charter on Sept 14, 2019, and, among others, agreed to cooperate for the development of the Islamic and Malay narrative without denying the diversity of religion, race and culture as central to the political stability, racial harmony and peace of the country.

       However, in Aug 20 last year, PAS officially joined Perikatan as a component member, which triggered uneasiness among the Umno grassroots.