KUALA LUMPUR, May 11 — Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today urged party members to leave discussions on seat allocations for the upcoming Melaka state election to the party’s top leadership.

He said such talks were premature, as the Melaka polls are only expected to take place next year, alongside the Johor state election.

“Let’s not be emotional, analytical and based only on individual perspectives. Issues like seat distribution and so on, we leave that to our top-level leadership.

“We often meet and hold discussions. So let’s not raise this issue, whether from Umno Youth or Amanah Youth. I think it’s too premature to politicise this matter,” he told reporters after Umno’s 79th anniversary celebrations at the World Trade Centre here.

Recently, nine DAP branches in Melaka expressed support for a proposed “14+14” formula, which suggests an equal seat split between Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Harapan (PH) in the next state election.

Umno Youth chief Datuk Dr Akmal Saleh rejected the idea, stressing that BN had no intention of giving up any seats it won in the last election, including those mentioned in the proposal.

Yesterday, Umno secretary-general Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said the final decision on seat distribution between BN and PH for the state election would be made by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Ahmad Zahid.

Melaka has 28 state assembly seats. In the 2021 state election, BN won 21, PH secured five, and Perikatan Nasional claimed two.

The next Melaka state election is expected to be held by November next year at the latest.