Push for ‘local only’ polls could cause dilemma for SAPP, say analysts

Members of the Sabah Progressive Party Supreme Council raise their fists after being admitted as a member of Perikatan Nasional in August 2020.

PETALING JAYA: 

Analysts have cautioned that the long-standing policy of Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) on the participation of local parties in state elections could result in a dilemma in the event of a collaboration between Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) and Pakatan Harapan (PH).

SAPP wants all 73 state constituencies to be contested solely by local parties – a policy which saw the outfit led by former Sabah chief minister Yong Teck Lee quitting Perikatan Nasional (PN) over the weekend.

But Bilcher Bala of Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) said SAPP’s policy could threaten its survival as there was no way the party could lobby for GRS to prioritise local parties and spurn PH in the next state polls.

“There is a need for a balance between principles and survival, especially taking into account the current political realities,” he told FMT.

GRS yesterday reaffirmed its commitment to continuing its cooperation with Sabah PH for the upcoming state election.

Its chairman Hajiji Noor said that while the ruling coalition was open to working with other parties, collaboration with Sabah PH remained its top priority.

PH joined the Sabah government following a failed coup by Umno last year.

Sabah PN chairman Ronald Kiandee had similarly suggested that SAPP might struggle after quitting the coalition, saying Yong was made a nominated assemblyman in 2020 out of PN’s goodwill.

GPS model?

Lee Kuok Tiung, also of UMS, said that SAPP – a founding member of GRS – might want the coalition to follow in the footsteps of Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS). GPS comprises local parties with PH as the opposition.

Lee said his assessment was based on SAPP’s push for local parties only to contest the next state election.

“Based on the GPS model, there would be no need for such a collaboration (between local and national parties),” he added.

In September, though, Hajiji was reported as saying that Sabah could not emulate Sarawak in this regard.

He said there was a need for cooperation with GRS’s allies, “including collaborating with national parties in Sabah”. - FMT