Sabah asks national leaders not to meddle in state GE15 negotiations

KOTA KINABALU, Oct 20 — Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Hajiji Noor has asked the central leadership of national parties not to interfere with the delicate power-sharing balance achieved by the state government as it carries out seat negotiations for the upcoming polls.

Hajiji said that the state Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) and Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties were trying to work out an amiable seat-sharing formula while respecting their pact.

“I told our federal leadership, from both BN and Perikatan Nasional (PN), please do not meddle in Sabah. We have been holding on to our agreement not to clash. We have three more years to go. Why should we fight now?” he said.

Hajiji said that the leaders have so far understood the need for stability in order to do the best for the people.

He was speaking to reporters after attending a convocation ceremony and was asked about the GRS-BN seat negotiations.

The Sabah Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia chairman said that the GRS-BN components agreed before the 2020 state polls to work together and have since strengthened their bond.

“We are different here in Sabah, unique to the national politics. We have an understanding, and we are holding on to it,” he said when asked about a possible clash.

Hajiji insisted that negotiations will work out despite the many rumours of dissatisfaction among the component parties.

“What’s there to clash? We have made an agreement not to contest each other. We have to support each other wherever one party contests. That’s the principle of cooperation. We have to evolve past the infighting. No more planting candidates and other schemes.

“Our enemies are the Opposition — Warisan and Pakatan — and we are the government bloc,” he said.

In negotiations, which are believed to give GRS 13 seats and BN 12 seats to contest, component parties from both camps have expressed frustration at the seat allocations, most notably BN’s Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS) and GRS’s Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (Sabah STAR).

PBRS has come out and declared its stand that BN should go solo in GE15, while Sabah STAR said it was ready to take BN on if it came to that.

PPBM and Umno are also said to be tussling over a few seats. The coalition has time to work through its differences before Nomination Day on November 5.

Meanwhile, on Bandau assemblyman Datuk Wetrom Bahanda, who has announced his intention to contest the Kota Marudu seat, Hajiji said that it was the former’s decision and he was unaware of his next move.

“I also only know about him through media and social media,” he said.

He said that the government will take the necessary action to replace him once his resignation was confirmed.

Wetrom, who was PPBM division chief, held the post of assistant minister in the Chief Minister’s Department before he announced that he was contesting the Kota Marudu seat under a Warisan ticket.

After a lukewarm response from Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, Wetrom has since been photographed with independent Parti Kadazandusun Malaysia (PKDM) president Datuk Peter Anthony, presumably to contest on the party’s ticket.

PKDM has applied to join GRS but has yet to be accepted.