KOTA KINABALU, Sept 17 — After Perikatan Nasional (PN) named its choice for the Sabah chief minister earlier this week, Datuk Bung Moktar Radin has said the choice lies with the state Barisan Nasional (BN) but added that they will focus on winning the elections first.
Bung, who is among those touted as a possible BN choice for chief minister if the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) alliance wins, however, agreed that the party with the most candidates should be the one to lead the state.
“Maybe they have their own strategy on their side, but it’s OK, we don’t mind. As for the BN alliance, we insist that we will only decide once the results are out,” the state BN chief said.
“But those with the most seats… they should be the ones that lead,” he said.
In GRS, BN is contesting 41 state seats compared to PN’s 29 seats. PBS is contesting 22 seats.
Asked whether he can deliver all the seats that he asked for, Bung said the sentiment of the people will speak for itself.
GRS was cobbled together to jointly challenge the ruling Warisan Plus pact. However, in addition to clashing in nearly a quarter of the 73 seats up for contention, the parties are also in disagreement over who among them should be the candidate for chief minister.
Bung and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia Sabah chairman Datuk Hajiji Noor are among the names touted so far.
However, Bung earlier insisted that the cooperation with PN has been encouraging, saying the latter coalition has been supportive of BN’s campaign.
Sabahans will cast their votes for the state-wide elections on September 26.
