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KOTA KINABALU: It is still anyone’s game in the 17 seats where Perikatan Nasional (PN) and his allies Barisan Nasional (BN) and Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) will cross swords in the Sabah state elections, a political analyst said.
Universiti Malaysia Sabah senior lecturer Lee Kuok Tiung said these seats involve fights from multiple corners that could have been arranged with the mutual understanding of BN and its allies.
“If it was one-on-one fights and all of a sudden his (alliance member) tried to sabotage him, then that would be a problem. But this time, these are multi-corner fights. You never know, it could be their strategy, ”Lee said.
The 17 seats where the coalition allies will clash are Bengkoka, Telupid, Lumadan, Matunggong, Tandek, Kadamaian, Kapayan, Karamunting, Melalap, Sook, Bingkor, Moyog, Tulid, Paginatan, Liawan, Tambunan and Tanjung Aru.
Most of the constituencies are located in the interior, central and north of Sabah and predominantly in the Kadazan Dusun Murut areas.
Lee dismissed misunderstanding and obsession with power as the cause of the clashes, which many found surprising given that the allies had held talks on the distribution of seats before the nomination of candidates yesterday.
He said that not all seats saw overlaps between BN and its allies, but only those that had agreed.
“For me, that’s brilliant on the part of the leadership or else I couldn’t reach any consensus,” Lee said.
Another analyst, Tony Paridi Bagang, considered that the 17 “friendly” clashes were expected.
Bagang, a professor at the Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Sabah, said the clashes occurred because the allies failed to reach a consensus on the allocation of seats.
“The first hints came when PBS decided to use its own logo in this election, sending a message about its desire to run candidates in most constituencies.
“Also, PBS is already outside BN and is not obliged to agree to BN or PN’s wishes. It can also be interpreted to mean that PN, BN and their ally were not very successful in their seat distribution negotiations, ”Bagang said.
Local political analyst and writer Musli Oli said that the challenges facing the coalition leadership at the state level in managing Sabah’s politics have led to these clashes.
Musli also considered that the creation of 13 new seats for this election had contributed to the fight for seats among the allies and complicated the distribution of seats.
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