Zahid denies secret pact with Warisan to form Sabah govt

The BN chairman and Umno president says he has never discussed a deal with Shafie Apdal's party, but talks are possible if the election results produce a hung assembly.

Barisan Nasional chairman and Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said he has never held discussions with Warisan president Shafie Apdal about a collaboration between the two.

KOTA KINABALU:

 Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has denied claims of a secret pact with Warisan to form the state government after the Sabah polls on Nov 29.

Zahid, who is also the Barisan Nasional chairman, said he has never held discussions with Warisan president Shafie Apdal to discuss any such collaboration.

“If there were one, we wouldn’t even be contesting the same seats as Warisan, and vice versa,” he told reporters at a media engagement session here today.

Speculation about a secret BN/Umno-Warisan alliance emerged ahead of nomination day today, with reports claiming Zahid and Shafie held private meetings to discuss post-election cooperation.

Some leaders from other Sabah parties have also noted that Umno, which is part of BN, sat out the contest for two state seats in the Warisan-held parliamentary constituency of Semporna, namely Senallang and Sulabaya.

Senallang and Sulabaya were previously held by Shafie and Jaujan Sambakong. They fall under the Semporna parliamentary seat, also represented by Shafie.

This had led to the belief that Sabah Umno and Warisan are cooperating again, as they had in the Kinabalu Move in 2023.

However, Zahid did not rule out the possibility of negotiations between parties if the election results produce a hung state assembly.

“We do not dismiss the possibility of talks to form a government once the results are out, because no single party or coalition can form the government on its own,” he said. - FMT