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SABAH SURVEYS | It is not possible for PBS to withdraw from the contest in any of the 22 state seats in state polls, said the party’s top adviser, Joseph Pairin Kitingan.
This came after Perikatan Nasional (PN) Secretary General Hamzah Zainuddin said that Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) had reached a consensus not to compete with each other on 17 seats that saw clashes between allies.
Utusan Malaysia Hamzah quoted Hamzah as saying that GRS would announce the only candidate they have chosen for the respective seats tomorrow.
“We are not going to withdraw. There is no possibility that we will withdraw from the polls. This is because our candidates have been accepted (by the Electoral Commission) using the symbol of our party,” Pairin said.
“If we want to withdraw, we could have done so before the nomination,” Pairin told the media at a campaign event in Kiulu, which was won by PBS since its inception in 1985.
Pairin, the founder of PBS, did not appear to be fazed by the possibility that other parties or allies might refuse to cooperate with his party.
“From now on, we will continue the fight on our own. Anyone who wants to be our friend, we can be friends, especially the federal government.
“However, we want to create a party of its own for the people, particularly the young generation,” he added.
Read more: Sabah Decides 2020: Making sense of players, parties and battles
On the eve of the nomination, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had tried to resolve the seat clashes between BN, PN and PBS. However, the GRS parties ended up competing for 17 seats.
Meanwhile, Pairin, who is on the party’s election campaign, said he is confident that PBS will win most, if not all, of the 22 seats it will contest.
[More to follow]
Follow Malaysiakini’s coverage of the Sabah state elections here.
