Party willing to reduce seats
Sabah Bersatu ready to compromise with partners
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia may reduce the number of seats it is contesting in the coming Sabah snap election from the initial 45 as a compromise with its partners.
Speaking to reporters after meeting Sabah Bersatu leaders, party secretary-general Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said it had not discounted this possibility.
He said this when asked whether Sabah Bersatu would maintain its stance on contesting in 45 state seats.
“The intention is always that but the point is this – once we compromise within our own coalition (Perikatan Nasional and Sabah partners), I think the number will be reduced,” he said.
Sabah Bersatu chief Datuk Hajiji Noor had previously announced that it was interested in fielding candidates in 45 out of the 73 seats.
Meanwhile, Sabah Umno said it wanted to recontest in all the seats allotted to the party in the previous general election.
“Everyone wants their own seats but at the moment, we cannot come to a conclusion of who is going to contest in which area.
“The most important thing for all of us is to win back the state government on behalf of the people under the Perikatan coalition to ensure better cooperation with the Federal Government,” said Hamzah.
Asked if the party had discussed with its partners on who would lead Sabah as chief minister should a new state government be formed, Hamzah said leaders from each coalition partner, including Hajiji, were expected to discuss on a “credible candidate to lead the elections”.
“We will sit down together to decide who can carry our flag as our chief minister in the future,” he said.
Earlier, during a symbolic handing over of application forms, Hamzah announced that 20,080 new membership forms had been received yesterday from branches statewide.
“Currently, there are 85,305 members and with the new addition, the figure will be 105,385 in total,” he said, adding that this showed that many wanted to join Bersatu.
Earlier at another function, Hamzah expressed his confidence that Sabah Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Juhar Mahiruddin would not abuse his position over the dissolution of the state legislative assembly.
Hamzah, who met Juhar before the announcement of the dissolution by caretaker Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, said the governor had been his good friend since the 1990s.
“There is nothing wrong with me visiting a friend. Of course, we discussed matters concerning Sabah’s future. But the details of the discussions with him, let it be between Tun and myself,” he said.
“I am confident that the TYT (Tuan Yang Terutama) won’t abuse his position. I know what we discussed and he should know what I mentioned to him so there is no need for me to publicise our conversation,” he added.
Hamzah said if Juhar had consented to the dissolution to pave away for a snap election, then “we have to face it and everyone has to decide who can govern this state”.
On Thursday, 33 assemblymen led by former chief minister Tan Sri Musa Aman filed a suit at the High Court here for a judicial review of the governor’s decision to dissolve the state assembly.
Juhar’s office had earlier claimed that it had no idea of the statutory declarations from the assemblymen led by Musa.