Barisan Nasional chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said negotiations must be held in good faith and on the principle that seats won by a party should be respected. PETALING JAYA : Barisan Nasional remains open to negotiations on seat allocations, including seat swaps, for the Melaka state election, provided they are conducted honestly and in good faith, said BN chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. Zahid had previously stated that BN would defend all the 21 state assembly seats it won in the 2021 state election. Yesterday, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang said the PAS-led Perikatan Nasional had begun preliminary talks with BN on seats to be contested at the coming Melaka election. The talks would take into account the fact that BN did not win any parliamentary seat in Melaka at the 2022 general election, he was quoted as saying.