Sabah opposition's dual challenge
Published on: Saturday, May 27, 2017
Kota Kinabalu: Any possibility of the Sabah opposition putting up a united front against the ruling Barisan Nasional in the coming election hinges on whether the State-based Gabungan can work with Parti Warisan as well as whether both these camps can also work with the peninsula-based Pakatan Harapan.Star President Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan warned that failure to reach a consensus on seat allocations in the coming election among all sides would result in the four-party Gabungan Sabah or United Sabah Alliance (USA) contesting in all seats in Sabah.Dr Jeffrey said despite PCS' (Parti Cinta Sabah's) departure from Gabungan and all the other issues in the opposition, there is still plenty of space to work things out and be a strong force to challenge the BN.
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He said there is no problem if all the opposition parties are realistic about their chances of winning the seats and contest only in the ones where they are strong."It should not be difficult. There are only three opposition groups in Sabah. (Parti) Warisan can focus on the east coast, we (Gabungan Sabah) focus on the interior areas while Pakatan Harapan in their areas like in towns and so on," he said.On the part of Gabungan Sabah, he said they have resolved 90 to 95 per cent of the seat allocation.He was positive about cooperation with Pakatan Harapan parties (mainly PKR, DAP), saying it would be unfair to stop them from contesting since they have won a number of seats in Sabah in the previous elections.
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He said Gabungan Sabah has held discussions with Pakatan Harapan on seats but not yet with Parti Warisan led by ex-Federal Minister Datuk Shafie Apdal.He deemed Parti Warisan's intention to contest in all the seats as not practical.
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Jeffrey also said the doors are still open for PCS to return to Gabungan on condition that it show it has learned a lesson.Although he deemed the party's decision to pull out from the pact as a mistake, there is still a possibility for both sides to kiss and make up."They don't know where they are (now) already because they made a wrong step. If they want to come back, we're open. But they must learn from the lesson," he told the press, Friday.PCS, led by Datuk Wilfred Bumburing, pulled out of from Gabungan end of last month, which left a crack in the State opposition camp. The other Gabungan members include Parti Harapan and SAPP.However, it is an open secret that Warisan's Shafie is not keen to work with Jeffrey, SAPP's Datuk Yong Teck Lee and Parti Harapan's Datuk Lajim Ukin who all belong to Gabungan.Earlier, Shafie said Parti Warisan is ready for an opposition pact with reliable partners as the party alone cannot take on the BN. However, he said any deal with other parties would depend on their loyalty to the opposition cause and are not BN-friendly.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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