Amanah hopes to contest in Sabah polls
KOTA KINABALU: Parti Amanah Nasional (Amanah) hopes to contest in the upcoming state elections.
According to its president, Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu, who is also Agriculture and Food Security Minister, the realisation of this goal will depend on negotiations between parties in the Unity Government on whether it will have seats to contest in.
“We hope to contest but it will depend on negotiations between the parties in the Unity Government,” he told reporters after officiating the Sabah International Food Expo (SIFEX) at the Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC) here on Saturday.
Amanah had contested a sole seat, Tanjung Keramat, in the 2020 snap state elections using the Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) logo, losing to Datuk Shahelmey Yahya who had contested under the Barisan Nasional (BN)-Umno banner.
When asked to comment on whether he thinks Amanah still has a chance since Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), Democratic Action Party (DAP) and United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (Upko), which are all component parties of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) Sabah coalition, are seen to have more chances to contest in Sabah, he said any party has a chance of winning if they contest under a coalition, and Amanah is no exception.
“We are contesting under the PH banner. Any party will stand a chance. It's just that to obtain the seats will depend on the negotiations,” he said.
When asked to comment on whether Amanah plans to contest in the six parliamentary seats which could be vacated following a recent amendment to the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) constitution, he said nothing is certain as of this moment.
“Let's just wait. We will cross that bridge when the time comes,” he said.
Bersatu had amended three articles under Article 10 of its constitution during a special general meeting on March 2, after six of its Members of Parliament (MP) declared their support for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim without resigning from the party.
The amendment provides for any of its MPs who pledge support to any political party which contravenes its stand, to be immediately stripped of their membership.
The six Bersatu MPs who threw their support behind Anwar are Datuk Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal (Bukit Gantang), Mohd Azizi Abu Naim (Gua Musang), Datuk Zulkafperi Hanapi (Tanjong Karang), Zahari Kechik (Jeli), Datuk Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid (Kuala Kangsar) and Datuk Suhaili Abdul Rahman (Labuan).