PUTRAJAYA, Sept 14 — PAS deputy president Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man does not see any problem for the Islamist party in being left out of the Sabah state election this round despite being part of the ruling political power now.

He said he and other PAS members will fly to Kota Kinabalu tomorrow to help the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition campaign in the crowded field.

"I'll be going to Kota Kinabalu tomorrow to help our PN brethren win their seats despite PAS not competing for any seats,” the environment and water minister told reporters here after meeting with representatives from the National Water Services Commission, Department of Environment, the Department of Biosafety and the police.

However, Tuan Ibrahim declined to comment on the overlapping contests in certain seats.

"As for members who are competing for similar seats, I will leave it to those who are forming our strategy.

"I've been told there are meetings every day among our coalition partners to sort out issues pertaining to the seats and I am confident that those involved will be able to sort out their differences,” he replied when asked to comment on the seat clashes by parties within the PN fraternity.

Tuan Ibrahim indicated that the PAS machinery will not be distracted from campaigning for PN even if the component members were contesting against each other in some seats.

"As for PAS, we will get the latest info from those on the ground in Sabah and take it from there. We have around 20 branches in Sabah that consist of around 20,000 members and some of these members will come from peninsular Malaysia,” he added.

Sabah is headed for the polls on September 26. The Election Commission has announced a whopping 447 candidates will be running for 73 state seats with 17 parties represented; this excludes independent candidates.

The Barisan Nasional coalition of Umno, MCA and PBRS fielded 41 candidates while its allies in PN consisting of Bersatu, STAR and SAPP fielded 29. Parti Perpaduan Rakyat Sabah fielded 23 while Parti Bersatu Sabah fielded 22.