Pakatan Rakyat has decided to field a PKR candidate in the Batu Sapi by-election and expressed the hope that Sabah-based SAPP will withdraw from the contest.

azlan Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's announcement at a press conference in Parliament this morning followed an agreement reached by Sabah Pakatan at a meeting held over the weekend to field a PKR candidate in the Nov 4 by-election.

PKR has yet to identify the candidate, but a number of possibilities have been identified, including the party’s Sabah chief Ahmad Thamrin Jai, Tuaran division chief Ansari Abdullah and newly-elected Batu Sapi chief Hassnar Ibrahim.

In an unusual step, Anwar also said DAP’s Kota Kinabalu MP and state chairperson Hiew King Cheu will lead Pakatan's campaign in Batu Sapi.

“Pakatan Rakyat leaders met and decided that we will field a PKR candidate and we will make the announcement (on who it is) soon.

“We hope SAPP won't contest, because we want a straight fight with BN,” he added.

SAPP president Yong Teck Lee last Saturday announced the party's intention to contest . SAPP left the BN coalition in 2008.

Meanwhile, the BN has said that it will name its candidate this coming Sunday.

The by-election was called after the incumbent PBS parliamentarian Edmund Chong Ket Wah died in a road accident on Oct 9.

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