IPOH, August 22 — Perak Perikatan Nasional (PN) secretary Datuk Zainol Fadzi Paharudin said the coalition had finalised 26 out 59 state seats which its component parties will contest in the 15th General Election (GE15).

Zainol, who is also the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) secretary, said that the component parties namely Bersatu, PAS and Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia have flagged-off which constituencies they want to contest in GE15.

"So far, 26 state seats have been finalised, which did not clash with Bersatu, PAS and Gerakan.

"However, a 10-seat overlap among the component parties and the balance of 23 seats are still under the process of negotiations,” he told reporters at the Meru Casuarnia Hotel here.

Zainol said Perak PN only discussed the matters of state seats during the recent meetings among the state PPBM liaison committee, state PAS leadership and state Gerakan.

"Basically, the series of discussions was held to decide the state seats which each party want to contest.

"We did not discuss the parliamentary seats. Because parliamentary matters will be decided by the central leadership,” he said.

Zainol said the 26 seats, which have been finalised, include the seven incumbent seats, namely Sungai Manik, Tualang Sekah, Chenderiang, Semanggol, Selama, Kubu Gajah and Kuala Kurau.

"The seven incumbent seats remain status quo.

"The balance 19 seats will be contested either by PAS, Bersatu or Gerakan. If PAS contests a seat, Bersatu and Gerakan will not place its candidate there. If there are any changes, it’s up to the central leadership,” he said.

For the 10 state seat overlap, Zainol said each component party will submit the name of their candidates and a decision will be made based on their popularity and acceptance among voters.

"We will evaluate their works and activities for the past two to three years. There will be a team who will do the evaluation,” he said.