Kota Kinabalu: Sabah Umno will be working with Pakatan Harapan in the state elections, said its Chief, Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin.
According to him, this was agreed upon following a retreat with the Sabah PH president and party leaders in Penang late last year.
“But we are still open to working with local parties. There are pros and cons to working with local parties for many years, but there has been no development.
“Umno Sabah consists entirely of Sabahans ... We want to bring development... except for (Usukan Assemblyman) Datuk Seri Salleh Said, who has gone against party policy.
“I will spell all this out in my campaign,” he said at his Hari Raya open house on Sunday.
He also did not dismiss the possibility of working with Warisan, which is going solo.
Bung said he made the announcement ahead of formalities with PH Sabah because the grassroots need to know, as Umno is a longstanding party.
Apart from defending Lamag, he hoped to retain all 41 seats Umno won in the previous election and is open to contesting only in winnable seats.
“So far, so good,” he said of seat discussions.
“We are not asking for more, but there must be flexibility. There’s no point in fielding candidates just to meet the quota, only to lose and go bust.”
