GEORGE TOWN, Dec 29 — Penang Perikatan Nasional (PN) hopes to win a few state seats in the upcoming state election next year to be a strong Opposition here.

Penang PN deputy chairman Oh Tong Keong said the coalition hopes to provide check and balance in the state legislative assembly.

"Pakatan Harapan has been leading the state government for 14 years and we need a check and balance in the assembly to make sure they fulfil their promises to the people,” he told Malay Mail in an interview this week.

He accused PH of not fulfilling many of its manifesto promises for Penang made in 2018, saying it should therefore be held accountable.

"They promised to resolve the traffic issues and flooding issues but we are still experiencing bad traffic congestion and flash floods, especially in Bayan Baru area,” he said.

He said the state government made promises about implementing the LRT and building the undersea tunnel to connect the northern side of the mainland to the Gurney Drive on the island but these have remained as promises.

"Even the major highways under the undersea tunnel and three highways project seemed to have hit a snag,” he said.

Oh, who is also Penang Gerakan chairman, said PN had a preliminary discussion on the distribution of state seats to contest in before the 15th general election but did not finalise it yet.

"We will likely meet to discuss the seat distribution again after Chinese New Year before deciding on the seats to contest in,” he said.

He believed that PN will likely contest all 40 state seats in Penang but this depends on the coalition’s leadership to finalise how the seats will be distributed.

The campaigning during GE15 has revealed a shift in support to PN, Oh said, so they hoped to continue to gain more support in the state elections.

The state election will have to be held by August next year before the legislative assembly is automatically dissolved upon reaching a full term of five years.

Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, who is from DAP has said the state legislative assembly will seek dissolution at the same time as Selangor and Negri Sembilan.