Warisan and co likely to tussle for seats too, says analyst

UMS’ Lee Kuok Tiung expects Warisan to relinquish several seats to Upko for allocation for the Kadazan Dusun, Murut and Rungus communities. (File pic)

PETALING JAYA: An analyst expects Warisan to face a tussle for seats with its allies Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Upko in the upcoming Sabah election, similar to what has arisen between Umno and PPBM.

Lee Kuok Tiung of Universiti Malaysia Sabah said Warisan president Shafie Apdal would likely have to sacrifice a few seats to be allocated to certain races.

“I believe that they will also face some hurdles when it comes to seat allocation because during the 14th general election, Upko contested on Barisan Nasional’s (BN) ticket.

“This time, Warisan will have to let go of a few seats that are allocated for the Kadazan Dusun, Murut and Rungus communities to Upko. It’s just that it’s too early to discuss seat allocations,” he told FMT.

Lee Kuok Tiung

Upko, which won the Paginatan, Kadamaian, Nabawan, Kuala Penyu dan Kuamut state seats in GE14, subsequently defected from BN to form the state government with Warisan.

Commenting on the war of words between Umno and PPBM leaders, Lee said certain parties were likely trying to tarnish the image of both political outfits.

“We must realise that Umno and PPBM’s relationship in Sabah isn’t the same as in the peninsula. Don’t forget former chief minister Musa Aman’s son Yamani Hafez Musa is in Sabah PPBM,” he said.

“Everyone in Sabah PPBM used to be comrades in Umno. Umno has long been based in Sabah. In fact, Shafie also built himself up using Umno’s platform throughout his involvement in politics.”

Based on the GE14 results, Lee said, Warisan needed to realise that Umno still held the Bumiputera Islam seats, although the Bumiputera Islam votes in Sabah were split.

He added that urban and suburban areas with Chinese majorities had been a major contributor to Warisan-PH winning 29 seats.

Another analyst, Universiti Teknologi Mara Sabah’s Mohammed Raheezal Shah Abdul Karim, said it was difficult to predict who would benefit if a three-cornered fight involving PPBM, Umno and their opponents arose.

However, he said an analysis based on data acquired prior to GE14 showed that BN would benefit the most from any contest between more than two parties.

“It’s hard to evaluate if PPBM has the strength to contest 47 state seats in Sabah because the location of the seats wasn’t mentioned specifically,” he told FMT.

Last week, Sabah PPBM chief Hajiji Noor reportedly said the party had identified 45 seats to contest, although the party was ready to hold discussions with Perikatan Nasional, Umno and BN.

Yesterday, Sabah Umno promised not to sideline other parties that opposed the Warisan-led state government, saying it was open to negotiations for seat allocations. - FMT