Warisan and Pakatan mired in political brinkmanship

A game of political brinkmanship seems to be at play between Parti Warisan Sabah and the national opposition Pakatan Harapan.

As the countdown to the general election draws closer, neither side has been able to give any clear indication on a seat-sharing formula being worked out by the parties whose only indication is that they were talking.

Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal is pushing his party’s agenda to lead the opposition, but the move has stonewalled with locally based Parti Cinta Sabah (PCS), led by Tamparuli assemblyman Datuk Wilfred Bumburing, demanding that no party should take the lion’s share of the 60 state and 25 parliament seats.

With Bumburing’s PCS likely out of the seat arrangements, opposition sources said both Warisan and Sabah DAP, led by Sandakan MP Stephen Wong, were also in a stalemate over the seat-sharing in the mainly urban seats.

But Sabah PKR-led Api Api assemblyman Christina Liew is reportedly making more progress with Warisan on the seat arrangement.

“Warisan and Sabah PKR are working things out, but Sabah DAP remains a difficult task. It is insisting on the position,” said sources familiar with the negotiations.

The crux of the issue is that Warisan, apart from taking most of the Muslim bumiputra, wants to contest in both Chinese and non-Muslim bumiputra seats with potential partners also demanding for the same seats, the sources said.

For example, the sources said Sabah DAP refused to give way for Warisan to take the Likas state seat currently held by Warisan vice-president Junz Wong, who won the seat on a DAP ticket before defecting to Warisan.

Several other seats in Sandakan and Penampang were subject to wrangling, the sources said, adding that both Shafie and Sabah DAP are sticking to their positions.

Shafie, the former Umno vice-president, has time and again maintained that Warisan wants to contest most of the seats, explaining that Pakatan was already contesting in the peninsula and Warisan would support the national opposition coalition against Barisan Nasional.

Another influential local-based four-party opposition coalition, Gagasan Sabah, has announced that they would be contesting all seats and recently launched their manifesto.