Sabah Barisan Nasional (BN) and Sabah UMNO Chairman Datuk Seri Bung Mokhtar announced that Sabah BN will form an alliance with Sabah Pakatan Harapan (PH) to face the impending 17th Sabah state election. As the state election is approaching, formal talks between the two parties are expected to take place soon.
He made this announcement at an Eid al-Fitr open house held at his residence on Sunday (13th) night.
He mentioned that this collaboration had actually been decided as early as last year. Before the formal talks, they had engaged in multiple informal discussions with Sabah PH leaders.
He noted that there have been many rumors lately regarding which party Sabah UMNO would cooperate with. Therefore, he wanted to officially announce that they have decided to team up with PH.
Bung Mokhtar, who is also the Member of Parliament for the Kinabatangan constituency, spoke about seat allocation, stating that UMNO and BN hope to retain the 41 seats they contested in the 16th state election in September 2020.
He believes that parties with higher support should be allotted more seats.
Additionally, he will continue to defend his own Lamag state seat in the 17th state election.
Welcoming Loyal Party Cooperation
Bung Mokhtar mentioned that in addition to PH, Sabah BN also welcomes any sincere, committed, and loyal parties to cooperate with them.
“Although Sabah BN does not rule out the possibility of cooperating with other parties, they will not consider collaborating with certain local parties due to specific issues involved, which is why BN made this decision.”
“We will consider forming alliances with other parties, although some parties attempt to stir up the issue of ‘prioritizing local parties,’ the fact is we ourselves face some issues related to local parties.”
He further stated that although BN is a national party, the political leadership of Sabah remains in the hands of Sabahans.
“Most of the current Sabah BN leaders are newcomers, with the exception of Sabah UMNO Treasurer Datuk Seri Salleh Said, almost all are new faces.”
He emphasized that Sabah BN aims to advance the development of Sabah and assist in resolving long-standing issues affecting the people's welfare, such as water supply, roads, and electricity issues, with the people's interests being the primary concern, which is the goal of Sabah BN.
“If we make promises and do not fulfill them, I believe that even if we win, the people will not forgive us.”