KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 6 — PKR secretary-general Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution and deputy president Rafizi Ramli today clarified that there no pre-arrangements were made with any political party before the 15th general election (GE15) to form the next government.
Malaysia Gazette reported Saifuddin as saying that his statement posted on Facebook may have confused the media, who assumed plans to form a government with another party after GE15 were in place before the poll.
He stressed that any negotiations were only made after the conclusion of GE15.
"What I meant was I already had personal relationships with political figures not from PH (Pakatan Harapan), that's where the confusion happened. Any discussion involving forming a government was made after GE15," he was quoted saying.
The newly appointed home minister said these personal relationships with leaders from other top political parties made it easier to negotiate with them to form the new unity government.
Meanwhile, PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli also clarified the matter and said no negotiations were made pre-GE15.
He said he had spoken with Saifuddin and he was told that his statement was taken out of context.
"The plan was to go into GE15 and win at least 112 seats and he (Saifuddin) said he had been misquoted or people misunderstood his statement about forming a unity government after GE15.
"What he was trying to put into context was that PH and PKR had never been looking for political enemies, but rather, we respected each other and tried to form cooperation even if it's with Umno.
"This is what helped ease the negotiation process until we could finally form the unity government so quickly," he was quoted saying.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's Pakatan Harapan won the most seats of any coalition in the November 19 general election but still fell short of the 112 needed for a simple majority to form the government on its own.
After several days of negotiations, PH finally reached an agreement for a coalition federal government with BN and GPS, which Gabungan Rakyat Sabah and Parti Warisan joined later.
