KUANTAN: Once a Barisan Nasional (BN) stronghold, the party has found itself on shaky ground in Pahang after failing to secure the numbers to form the next state government following a series of losses in the 15th General Election (GE15).
Perikatan Nasional (PN) emerged as the surprise winners after securing 17 seats, followed by BN with 16 seats and Pakatan Harapan (PH) with eight seats.
However, none of the parties or coalitions have obtained a simple majority of 21 seats.
Talk is now rife over a possible PN and BN merger to form the new state government.
This collaboration, said political analyst Professor Dr Nik Ahmad Kamal Nik Mahmood, could be the way forward.
He said the scenario at the state level is different compared to federal as it has to be viewed from a smaller context .
"At federal level, we have seen numerous disagreements between PN and BN but the sentiment in the states would be different. It has to be seen from a local context compared to national interest.
"Both PN and BN might not be in favour of establishing a partnership with PH so the best bet at forming the new Pahang government will be both PN and BN joining forces," he said.
Nik Ahmad Kamal said PN will be in the driver's seat to name the Menteri Besar of their choice after emerging with the bigger share of seats in the state.
"Since PN and BN have only a single seat majority, there might be a possibility for a deputy Menteri Besar position to be created. This is to be fair to the BN coalition," he said.
On the rise in PN state seats in Pahang from eight in GE14 to 17 in GE15, Nik Ahmad Kamal said the massive wave of change could be largely due to the 'Malay tsunami' along with young voters who choose not to support PH.
"It appears that the Malay voters were backing PN. Even in the Kuantan parliamentary seat, little-known Wan Razali Wan Nor from PN beat the seat-holder Fuziah Salleh and BN's senior politician (Datuk Seri Ab Hamid Mohd Nazahar)," he said.
After the GE15 results were announced yesterday, no party managed to obtain a simple majority to form the Pahang government, which resulted in a hung state assembly.
It is learnt that Pahang caretaker Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail is away in Kuala Lumpur for a series of high-level Umno meetings while Pahang PN chairman Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah will be attending the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) supreme council meeting in Kuala Lumpur tonight.
Meanwhile, BN party insiders have remained tight-lipped on the possible pact with PN but agreed that a collaboration was likely with PN compared to PH.
It is believed that both coalitions have already initiated talks and that certain conditions were put forward by PN in their bid to form the new state government.
Meanwhile, a source said Pas deputy president Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, who won the Cheka state seat, is not the sole candidate identified for the Menteri Besar post.
"Tuan Ibrahim won the Kubang Kerian parliamentary seat and might be picked as a minister at federal level. There are other potential names so let's wait for an official announcement," said the source.
In GE14, BN contested all 42 state seats in Pahang, winning 25 (Umno 24, MCA one). PH won nine seats while Pas secured eight.
Pas is currently part of PN, alongside Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia and Gerakan.
Winning 17 state seats showed that PN has already made crucial inroads into Pahang, which were the only two states that remained under the BN government after the historic 2018 election which saw BN ousted from the federal government after over six decades in power.
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