PN renews call for allies to resolve clashes over seats

SABAH POLLS | On the eve of the polling day in Sabah, Perikatan Nasional (PN) renewed its call for the opposition parties to stay focus on resolving the clashes over 15 seats.

"For the last couple of days, I think we have done quite a good job," PN secretary-general Hamzah Zainudin (above) said.

"I think all of them have to really focus on something to make sure that whatever it is, we have to take over the state government," Hamzah told reporters on the sidelines of Gabungan Rakyat Sabah's (GRS) grand finale ceramah last night.

He said this when asked whether GRS, whose allies BN, PN and PBS were clashing among themselves in 15 seats, could reach a consensus not to contest against one another.

Hamzah said he did not follow the progress of the negotiations among the leaders of these parties.

"I don't know. You see, I have already given the task for all the presidents of all the parties to talk among themselves," he said.

As such, Hamzah said it was a surprise for him to know that Independent candidate in Inanam, Kenny Chua, has been accepted as a member of Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (Star).

Similarly, Hamzah said, he wasn't aware that another independent candidate, Anita Baranting, who defended her seat in Tandek, had applied to join Star.

"I don't know. This is a surprise to me," he said curtly before leaving.

GRS parties, which originally clashed in 17 seats, managed to arrive at a partial truce on two seats, namely Tambunan and Bingkor.

On Sept 22, PBS agreed not to campaign in these two seats and to give way to Star, while Star agreed to support the PBS' candidates for the Bengkoka and Api-Api seats.

On the same day, Star accepted Chua as its member, which means that it was clashing with the PBS candidate for the same seat, even though Chua was contesting as an independent candidate.

Yesterday, Star was seen accepting the membership application of Anita, who is contesting against a PBS candidate for the Tandek seat. Such moves are seen as capable of threatening the fragile relationship among both GRS allies.

PBS secretary-general Jahid Janim, who attended the ceramah, declined to comment on the latest incident.

"I have no comment because this is a new development. Let me check first. We are standing in an election, we have no time to splitting among ourselves," Jahid said.

To a question, Jahid said his party would still honour its peace deal with Star and continue to cease campaigning in both Tambunan and Bingkor seats.

Sabah goes to polls tomorrow.

Malaysiakini is currently providing stories on the Sabah polls for free. Continue to support Malaysiakini and independent journalism by subscribing for as little as RM20 per month.

Follow Malaysiakini's coverage of the Sabah state election here.