Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Yahya Hussin said the issue on whether Gerakan could put up candidates in Sabah or not is best left to be decided by the BN leadership.

"We respect the views of BN component parties and we will accept whatever the BN leadership decides," he told reporters after launching Koperasi Tanjong Keramat Kota Kinabalu Berhad's annual general meeting in Kota Kinabalu today.

Yahya, who is also state Umno liaison secretary, said this when asked to comment on statements by several state Umno leaders who urged Prime Minister Najib Razak not to field Gerakan candidates in Sabah for the coming general election.

Yesterday, Umno supreme council member and Housing and Local Government deputy minister Datuk Seri Lajim Ukin had said that Gerakan should focus its efforts on winning in the peninsula, especially in Penang, as compared to putting up candidates in Sabah.

He added it was better that Chinese candidates for the state come from  more established parties like the MCA, Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

- Bernama