GEORGE TOWN, Oct 14 — Penang Barisan Nasional (BN) wished to avoid overlapping with PAS in the 15th general election, said state chairman Datuk Musa Sheikh Fadzir who claimed the coalition still considered the Islamist party an ally.

He claimed the Penang BN grassroots have a close relationship with their PAS counterparts and did not want to fight the latter in the state.

"We have brought this up to the top five BN leaders and they have said we can continue to cooperate with PAS for now,” he said in a press conference after officiating the launch of the Malaysian Indian Muslim Congress (Kimma) election machinery here.

However, he said Penang BN would comply if the national leadership decided against this later.

Yesterday, BN chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the coalition would contest GE15 without PAS after the latter opted to continue with Perikatan Nasional and Bersatu.

Today, Musa said Penang BN only wanted to avoid fighting PAS.

"If it’s against Bersatu, our grassroots have no issues as the party is considered an opponent,” he said.

Commenting on Penang BN’s confidence going into GE15 if the state poll were also held concurrently, he said the coalition was bullish on improving on its current two seats.

When asked about BN’s chances of regaining control of the state, he said this would happen if the voters wanted it.

"Penang BN will be fielding at least 60 per cent new faces this election,” he said, adding that they have submitted the candidate list to the party leadership.

"Whether they dissolve the state assembly or not, we are ready to face GE15,” he said.

He said Penang BN now has an additional 13 state and four parliamentary seats to contest due to the changes in the coalition’s composition.

These were seats previously contested by Gerakan but the party quit BN after its defeat in the 14th general election.

"I have proposed to the top leadership to allocate at least one seat to our ally, Kimma, that have remained loyal to BN for over 40 years,” he said.

He said Kimma may finally get to contest in one seat as a BN-friendly party.