Sabah Umno confirms tie-up with Harapan for state polls

Summary

• Sabah Umno confirms BN-Harapan cooperation for the upcoming state polls, contesting 40 and 33 seats respectively.

• The party is open to working with other local parties, but highlighted that collaborating with the ruling GRS will result in many overlapping claims for seats.

• Umno’s Suhaimi Nasir says Warisan plans to go solo but did not dismiss potential post-nomination shifts in political alliances.

Sabah Umno has confirmed that BN component parties in the state will cooperate with their Pakatan Harapan counterparts in the coming 17th Sabah state election, which is expected to be held soon.

Sabah Umno information chief Suhaimi Nasir said the decision was made during a recent meeting in Penang.

However, Suhaimi said that the cooperation between BN and Harapan does not mean closing the door to working with other Sabah parties.

“(Sabah Umno chief) Bung Moktar Radin previously stated that BN-Harapan (cooperation) is key, but we are not shutting the door on other parties.

“It’s not wide open to all parties either, and similarly now, although we may refer to the current government as being Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS)-Harapan, they are part of the administration.

“They are still together because their term has not ended. Whether the GRS-Harapan government wishes to continue negotiations (to form a BN-Harapan-GRS pact) is up to them,” he told the media in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.

“But not for now. As of today, we are strictly BN-Harapan. That is our decision, although it has not been finalised yet. It is still under discussion and will be finalised soon,” he added.

Unfruitful talks with GRS

Commenting on BN’s efforts to establish cooperation with GRS, Suhaimi said the ruling coalition in Sabah has not shown any inclination to join the BN-Harapan alliance.

“There were discussions (between BN and GRS) before, we did talk, but it didn’t materialise. It wasn’t even a 50-50 situation.

“That’s why we’re focusing on BN-Harapan and we’ve locked that in, and perhaps with other interested parties as well,” he added.

When asked whether Umno-BN plans to win over Warisan to join the pact to face the Sabah polls together, Suhaimi said Warisan has already decided to move forward independently.

However, the Libaran MP said he does not rule out the possibility that things could change suddenly if the party decides to collaborate with BN-Harapan.

“For now, Warisan has stated they will go solo. But we don’t know - once the election drum beats, anything can happen because the political dynamics (in Sabah) are hard to predict,” he added.

Suhaimi also confirmed that Umno-BN will contest 40 out of the 73 state assembly seats in the upcoming state election.

The remaining 33 will be allocated to Harapan, and the process of vetting candidates is ongoing, he said.

“With BN-Harapan, we already have an understanding, and there are no clashes or overlaps in seat allocations. They have also agreed to the seats we intend to contest.

“So we have decided that we will contest 40 state seats, and the rest will go to Harapan,” he added.

Overlapping seats

However, Suhaimi expressed concern that if GRS decides to cooperate in the upcoming election, there will be overlapping claims for seats.

He said the issue of overlapping seats between BN and GRS does not involve just a few seats, but virtually all of them.

“There are many overlaps with GRS. Not just many, but all. For example, in (Pantai) Dalit, (Tanjung) Keramat, Tawau, and Balung, we overlap. Far too many, really.

“The issue is that when we contested under the BN ticket, we won, but then people jumped to other parties. The same goes for those in GRS - most of the seats were won by those who defected from Warisan… They jumped ship and formed the government.

“Even now, the people of Sabah do not have confidence in GRS. Why? Because GRS was formed almost entirely from defectors,” he said.

When asked whether he plans to contest in the upcoming election, Suhaimi stressed that it would depend on the party’s leadership decision.

“We’ll see the situation. That’s a decision for the party leadership,” he said.

Sabah polls: Umno-Harapan pact to be decided at supreme council meeting

Armizan won't contest Sabah polls, to focus on MP duties

Sabah polls: GRS to discuss possible cooperation with Harapan – Hajiji

'Sabah, S'wak seat quota change talks must involve all component parties'

BN, Harapan open to alliances in Sabah polls - Salleh