KOTA KINABALU, April 14 — Umno will partner with Pakatan Harapan (PH) for the coming state election, said Barisan Nasional (BN) Sabah chief Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin.
KOTA KINABALU, April 14 — Umno will partner with Pakatan Harapan (PH) for the coming state election, said Barisan Nasional (BN) Sabah chief Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin.
He said this decision was finalised during a retreat with PH Sabah in Penang last year, where both the Democratic Action Party (DAP) and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) were involved in informal talks along with United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (Upko) president Datuk Ewon Benedick.
Bung said discussions have been progressing well during the many informal meetings that Umno has been holding with PH Sabah, and the coalition’s member parties have given positive responses to this Umno-PH cooperation, adding that formal discussions are expected to be held soon.
“Today I wish to announce that Umno Sabah has decided that it will partner with Pakatan Harapan for the state election.
“This decision is final, but we are open to working with other parties who are sincere in working together to better Sabah.
“We will develop the state of Sabah and help resolve overdue issues such as roads, water and electricity for the rakyat.
This is our goal and we will fulfil our promises if we win,” he told reporters at his Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house here yesterday.
On whether he was asked by the coalition to make the announcement, he said he felt compelled to do it himself because Umno has been in Sabah for so long and its grassroots deserve to know who their election partners are.
He said he feared that waiting longer would likely cause the state chapter to split.
On the distribution of seats, he said nothing is concrete as of now as discussions are still ongoing, clarifying that as Umno is flexible and not greedy, it will only be fielding winnable candidates, stressing that victory in the 17th Sabah State Election is of utmost importance rather than solely seat quotas.
However, he said Umno would hopefully retain the 41 state seats that the party contested in the previous election.
The Kinabatangan Member of Parliament did not exclude more election partners, including Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) and Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) for Umno in this year’s state election, as long as they can contribute to the victory.
“I will also be defending my state seat. I’m going to tell the Dewan Undangan Negeri that I’m going to stand back in Lamag, because tomorrow (today) is the last sitting,” he added
He said this decision was finalised during a retreat with PH Sabah in Penang last year, where both the Democratic Action Party (DAP) and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) were involved in informal talks along with United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (Upko) president Datuk Ewon Benedick.
Bung said discussions have been progressing well during the many informal meetings that Umno has been holding with PH Sabah, and the coalition’s member parties have given positive responses to this Umno-PH cooperation, adding that formal discussions are expected to be held soon.
“Today I wish to announce that Umno Sabah has decided that it will partner with Pakatan Harapan for the state election.
“This decision is final, but we are open to working with other parties who are sincere in working together to better Sabah.
“We will develop the state of Sabah and help resolve overdue issues such as roads, water and electricity for the rakyat.
This is our goal and we will fulfil our promises if we win,” he told reporters at his Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house here yesterday.
On whether he was asked by the coalition to make the announcement, he said he felt compelled to do it himself because Umno has been in Sabah for so long and its grassroots deserve to know who their election partners are.
He said he feared that waiting longer would likely cause the state chapter to split.
On the distribution of seats, he said nothing is concrete as of now as discussions are still ongoing, clarifying that as Umno is flexible and not greedy, it will only be fielding winnable candidates, stressing that victory in the 17th Sabah State Election is of utmost importance rather than solely seat quotas.
However, he said Umno would hopefully retain the 41 state seats that the party contested in the previous election.
The Kinabatangan Member of Parliament did not exclude more election partners, including Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) and Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) for Umno in this year’s state election, as long as they can contribute to the victory.
“I will also be defending my state seat. I’m going to tell the Dewan Undangan Negeri that I’m going to stand back in Lamag, because tomorrow (today) is the last sitting,” he added.
