PETALING JAYA: Sabah Pakatan Harapan is more inclined towards forging a pact with Gabungan Rakyat Sabah for the next state election, according to a source in the know.
The source claimed Sabah PH leaders have repeatedly indicated their preference for the alliance to exclude BN altogether.
PH prefers GRS, which is composed of eight Sabah-based parties, due to its appeal among Bumiputera Sabahan voters. This would allow PH to train its focus on its stronghold areas during the campaign, he said.
Sabah PH currently holds seven seats in the state assembly, with DAP holding four, followed by PKR (two) and Upko (one). All except Kadamaian, held by Upko president Ewon Benedick, are urban seats.
“GRS and PH have no need for BN anymore. The current Sabah BN leadership does not even command the loyalty of its own rank and file.
“Sabah BN has not offered any constructive policies or ideas for the past four years. All they do is engage in politicking,” he told FMT.
The source also said a snide remark by BN chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in the Dewan Rakyat last week has ruffled many feathers. Zahid said in jest that a change in the state government could help curb urban migration.
“As the deputy prime minister of the federal unity government, it shows that Zahid does not appreciate GRS’s gracious inclusion of BN and PH in the state government despite Sabah BN’s Langkah Kinabalu,” he said.
“Langkah Kinabalu” refers to a failed attempt by state BN chief Bung Moktar Radin to unseat Hajiji Noor as chief minister in January 2023. The move collapsed after several Sabah Umno assemblymen, including Shahelmey Yahya, refused to retract their support for GRS chairman Hajiji.
Hajiji went on to name Shahelmey deputy chief minister in place of Bung, while Sabah PH chief Christina Liew and state DAP chief Phoong Jin Zhe were roped into the state Cabinet.
‘Sabah Umno riddled with deadweights, rejects’
The source said Sabah Umno was currently full of deadweights whose support among voters was dwindling, making the party a liability to potential allies.
“All who are left in Sabah Umno are just old rejects,” he said. “They are actually just riding on the backs of others.”
He called for the GRS-PH state government to dismiss all BN assemblymen holding posts in the administration, saying these positions should instead be given to PH for supporting Hajiji in 2023.
The 17th election for the Sabah legislative assembly must be held by Dec 9 next year at the latest. Both BN and GRS are courting PH to form an alliance for the election.
However, Sabah PH has reiterated that no decision has been made, with internal talks among component parties pending.
Sabah PKR chief Mustapha Sakmud said although PH and BN have worked well as partners in the federal government, electoral alliances in the state must take local sentiment into consideration.
Meanwhile, DAP’s central leadership has given its Sabah chapter complete autonomy to discuss the possibility of cooperating with GRS for the polls.
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