Pairin Wants Seat Allocation To Be Discussed In A Round Table, Not Openly

KOTA KINABALU, March 20 (Bernama) -- Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) president Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan wants the seat allocation issue among state Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties to be discussed in a round table and not openly to ensure that the matter is solved in the spirit of BN.

Pairin, who is Deputy Chief Minister, said the seat allocation agreed upon by all state BN component parties in the last election should be made the basis for any discussion on the matter.

"Only the parliamentary and state seats held by Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) (which left the BN in September 2008) which should be discussed among the component parties," he told reporters after opening the state-level World Water Day Conference, here Tuesday.

Pairin was asked to comment on the remark by Penampang Umno division chief Datuk John Ambrose on Sunday that there was a need for the BN to relook into its seat allocation formula.

Ambrose said the BN should do away with the usual practice of re-allocating seats to component parties which had contested them in previous elections, saying that this practice would do more harm than good for the BN because the parties would still be able to recontest regardless of whether they had a winnable candidate or not.