By Nur Ashikin Louis
KUCHING, Nov 20: Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin held a meeting with Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) chairman Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg this morning.
Muhyiddin, who posted a photo of their meeting on Facebook earlier, said the meeting aimed to deliberate on forming the next federal government.
Also present during the meeting were Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang and Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) deputy secretary-general Datuk Ibrahim Baki.
PAS is a component party under PN while PBB is a component party under GPS.
“This morning, I received a courtesy visit from Premier of Sarawak Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg and PAS president (Abdul Hadi) to discuss the formation of a federal government.
“Negotiations are also being made with other parties aligned with independent Members of Parliament and us. Insya-Allah, the federal government will be able to be formed in the near future,” he wrote.
As of press time, PH is in the lead for the 15th General Election (GE15) with 82 seats, followed by PN — 73 seats, Barisan Nasional (BN) — 30 seats, GPS — 22 seats, Gabungan Rakyat Sabah — six seats, Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) — three seats, Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) — one seat, Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) — one seat, and Independent — two seats.
These were the official results of 220 out of 222 seats contested on polling day (Nov 19) as of 6.40am this morning.
The remaining two parliamentary seats could not be announced, namely P017 Padang Serai due to the death of one of its candidates and P220 Baram due to floods.
Following the meeting, there is a possibility that GPS will be included in forming the federal government, but both coalitions would only accumulate 95 seats. They still need to join hands with other blocs to secure at least 112 seats to gain a simple majority. — DayakDaily
