PARTI Keadlian Rakyat (PKR) election director Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari has challenged UMNO and Barisan Nasional (BN) to examine their own sincerity before questioning Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) commitment to negotiations over electoral cooperation.
Amirudin said negotiations would be difficult if either side-imposed conditions before talks even began, particularly when PH had already demonstrated its willingness to make concessions by allowing BN to contest seats previously won by the coalition.
He said PH had remained open to negotiations and had shown its sincerity during previous state elections, including by giving BN room to contest constituencies previously won by PKR in Selangor.
“We were sincere in negotiations during the state elections and hope there will be sincerity when we negotiate elsewhere. So, remember, in Johor and Selangor, we were sincere enough to give away seats in areas where we had previously won,” he said.
“Don’t, before negotiations even begin, impose conditions. Only contesting seats that were lost would make things difficult. In Selangor, we gave areas that we had won to BN.
“So, sincerity must also be reflected in ourselves. And we are open to negotiations. But everyone has to be sincere,” he told reporters after officiating the Madani Kita programme with the Ampang Jaya community in Kuala Lumpur today.
His remarks came a day after UMNO secretary-general Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said any negotiations with parties over electoral cooperation must be based on sincerity and trust rather than threats or intimidation.
Meanwhile, Amirudin, who is also Selangor Menteri Besar, said he had already spoken to Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusoh but was waiting for Rauf to be ready to begin formal discussions.
“Rauf explained that he was waiting for several policy decisions at the central Umno and central BN levels before continuing the discussions and so on,” he said.
Asked why PH remained interested in working with BN despite some quarters describing the coalition as “sakau” (taking or grabbing things for personal gain), Amirudin said the label should be directed at individuals rather than the party as a whole.
“It is about individuals and does not refer to a party, and we have a central leadership. That is why we are not saying 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, we discuss. If we were to think that way, we would have already changed the federal situation,” he said.
Amirudin also said PH was prepared to contest constituencies beyond the 21 seats identified by Umno-BN, but stressed that any final arrangement would depend on sincere negotiations.
“Those are indeed seats that we should address (apart from the 21 seats). But let’s see how the negotiations go. We haven’t negotiated yet, so I don’t want to jump the gun.
“But the key is sincerity. We have negotiated sincerely before. In fact, we were gracious enough to share areas that we had won,” he said. - August 29, 2026
