Johor Pakatan in seat allocation deadlock

State-level negotiations in Johor between DAP and PKR on seats to be contested in the coming general election appear to have hit a brick wall.

The DAP is said to be unable to get its coalition partner to concede some seats it wants to contest on the grounds that it stands a better chance.

Johor DAP chief Dr Boo Cheng Hau (left) aired his grouses over micro-blogging site Twitter: "We are having problems with PKR - asking for more than what they can swallow".

When contacted, Boo, who is Skudai assemblyperson, said DAP wanted an equal share of the 26 parliamentary seats in Johor but PKR was unwilling to give up some  to his party.

"I think it is only fair... PKR has 11 (parliamentary) seats... it should give one or two to DAP," he said.

In the last general election, of the 26 parliamentary seats in Johor, DAP contested six while PAS and PKR went for eight and 11 respectively. The remaining seat was a walkover for the BN.

Boo explained that the reason for PKR's reluctance was its concern that DAP would emerge as the dominant party in Johor and throw off the "racial balance".

"The worry within Pakatan is that the DAP will become more prominent is unfounded. This is unhealthy, we are winning for Pakatan... the new PKR leadership must try to work with the Pakatan culture," he said.

However, Boo, who is also Johor state assembly opposition leader, stressed there was no serious problem with allocations for state seats as PAS had been generous in conceding some of its own.

"PAS is willing to give away around six state seats to PKR and DAP," he said.

DAP is expected to contest 15 state seats in Johor come the next general election, up from the 12 fought for in 2008.

Pakatan needs to make significant headway in Johor - a major BN stronghold - if it wants to take over Putrajaya.

PKR: Boo violating gag order

Johor PKR chief Chua Jui Meng, when contacted, was less than amused about Boo's venting, accusing him of breaching Pakatan discipline.

"There should be no public discourse on this because the state Pakatan cannot make statements on the negotiations, we can only make recommendations. What he said is in breach of Pakatan disciplinary rules," Chua (right) said.

The former Bakri MP also denied that there was a deadlock in seat negotiations in Johor.

"We have already negotiated and agreed on most of the seats," he said.

However, the former BN minister pointed out that any remaining disagreement would be left to be hammered out by the top Pakatan leadership.

"We have held negotiations for Johor seats and this has already been referred to the leadership at the central level for further discussion... the role of the state is over, and he (Boo) has to understand that," Chua said.

He refused to divulge any detail but said that there were two stages of negotiations left, at the central level and finally at the highest level, among the chiefs of the three coalition partners.

Boo later posted two more entries on Twitter, tagging top leaders of both PKR and DAP with the message: "I only let a bit of steam out of a closed tin - or it will explode. Easy, man" and "Ureasonable demands based on baseless claims make things impossible to be settled."