Kota Kinabalu: Sabah DAP is targeting more than 10 seats in the 17th Sabah Election (PRN17), says Deputy Chairman Datuk Chan Foong Hin.
He said the decision was made during the party’s recent state retreat but remains subject to negotiation with coalition partners under the Pakatan Harapan (PH)-Barisan Nasional (BN) pact.
Chan said the party aims to defend its four state seats, namely Tanjong Papat, Kapayan, Likas and Luyang, as well as the two seats where its representatives defected to Warisan, namely Sri Tanjong and Elopura.
In the previous state election, Sabah DAP contested seven seats.
Apart from DAP, the Pakatan coalition in Sabah includes PKR, United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (Upko) and Parti Amanah Sabah.
On PKR Deputy President Nurul Izzah Anwar’s statement about contesting at least 13 seats in the state polls, Chan said the final allocation depends on consensus within Pakatan.
“Once there is consensus within Pakatan on seat allocation, only then can we begin formal negotiations with other coalitions,” he said, Monday.
In the 2020 state election, DAP contested under the Warisan logo, while PKR and Upko used their own party symbols, collectively winning nine seats.
Chan said the coming state polls will be more complex than the 2020 election, involving three major blocs – the Pakatan-Barisan pact, GRS and Warisan.
“For other groups, there is interest in collaboration but formalising these discussions takes time,” he said.
Chan said, for now, everything remains open.
“Nothing is set in stone. Each coalition must finalise its internal consensus before moving forward,” he said.
Meanwhile, Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (Star) views PKR’s intention to contest at least 13 seats in the PRN17 as a direct challenge to the political autonomy of Sabah.
“The demand for 13 seats by a peninsula-based party implies a continued perception of Sabah as a political colony, rather than an equal partner in the Malaysian Federation. This undermines the spirit of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), which affirms Sabah’s right to determine its own political direction,” said Star Information Chief Anuar Ghani, in a statement, Monday.
Star also criticized Nurul Izzah’s statement regarding the deployment of campaign teams from Selangor, Johor and Penang to Sabah, calling it intrusive and disrespectful to local sentiments.
“Sabah is not a political laboratory for peninsula parties,” he said.
“Sending in outside machinery shows a lack of sensitivity and reinforces the perception that national parties continue to undermine local leadership.”
Star also questioned the basis for PKR’s seats claim, noting that the party previously won only two out of the 10 seats it contested in the last state election.
“To now demand 13 seats despite such a record reflects not only overreach but a lack of understanding of Sabah’s evolving political landscape.”
