Pakatan sorts out seats to contest
Published on: Wednesday, August 23, 2017
Kota Kinabalu: Pakatan Harapan (PH) has successfully negotiated the distribution of almost all the seats to be contested in the State in the coming elections, with a remaining few to be resolved as early as next week.Sabah PKR chief Christina Liew (pic) said all the parliamentary seats have been distributed among the three component parties namely PKR, DAP and Amanah except for a few State seats because of overlapping bids."Nevertheless, I am very confident we will be able to solve this very soon. After this is settled, then we will open discussion with other local opposition parties," she said, when contacted.ADVERTISEMENT Liew, however, declined to disclose the details of the discussion such as which parties would stand to benefit the most or how many seats each of the parties will contest.On June 25, this year, DAP Sabah Chairman Stephen Wong said DAP had "locked" 20 State seats and eight parliamentary seats it wants to contest before urging PKR and Amanah to expedite seat negotiations by end of July.In the 13th General Election, PKR won seven out of 43 State seats and one out of 19 parliamentary seats it contested while DAP won four of eight State seats and two of four parliamentary seats it contested.Since then, two of the four DAP State Assemblymen have left the party while PKR lost five Assemblymen to both BN and local opposition parties.ADVERTISEMENT The seat distribution issue has become a touchy subject for the opposition parties due to increasing pressure from voters who want to see straight fights between BN and the opposition on all State and parliamentary seats in Sabah.Parti Warisan Sabah President Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal had said the party supports what PH is doing because of their similar goal to topple the government but will not sign any formal pact.
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Unlike the other opposition parties, Shafie believes straight fights are overrated and had openly stated he would not work with certain local opposition parties because some of the leaders lack credibility, saying "I know what they did last election".The party believes BN should not be given easy passage in the election or allowed to win uncontested, vowing they would place their candidates in all State seats and parliamentary seats if they have to.Similarly, local opposition parties in the United Sabah Alliance (Gabungan Sabah) despite showing signs of openness to work together with PH early this year, has increasingly distanced themselves from the coalition.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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Last Sunday, SAPP President Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee criticised PH, saying they only have Malaya's interests in mind despite parading themselves as the true saviour of Malaysia.Only former GS Parti Cinta Sabah (PCS) President Datuk Seri Wilfred Bumburing had hinted about a grand alliance between all opposition parties, a view shared by PH. - Tracy Patrick