Sabah Umno needs sincere allies in GE16, says leader

Citing Sabah's dynamic political arena, Yakub Khan says Umno's ally today could turn into its rival tomorrow, and vice versa.

Umno Supreme Council member Yakub Khan said BN only worked with PH in the Sabah state election as it believed it could dominate the polls, but was clearly proven wrong. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA:

 Sabah Umno needs to look for sincere allies to face the 16th general election (GE16) following its poor performance in the state polls where it won just six seats, says a member of the party’s top leadership.

Umno Supreme Council member Yakub Khan said Barisan Nasional only worked with Pakatan Harapan in the Nov 29 state election as it believed it could dominate the polls and gain the numbers to form the Sabah government.

However, the Sepanggar Umno chief said, the results obviously proved otherwise, with BN going on to back the administration led by Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) despite being rivals at the polls.

“Sabah Umno needs to reassess its structure and look for partners who are trustworthy, credible and sincere,” he told FMT, without specifying which parties would be suitable allies.

“The political dynamics are hard to predict now. Our ally today could turn into our rival tomorrow, and vice versa.”

GRS is campaigning for BN’s candidates in the Jan 24 by-elections for the Lamag state and Kinabatangan parliamentary seats, which were called following Bung Moktar Radin’s death on Dec 5.

In the 2022 general election, Sabah BN and GRS joined forces, resulting in the former winning seven parliamentary seats, namely Kinabatangan, Putatan, Beaufort, Libaran, Kalabakan, Kimanis and Pensiangan.

Based on the results, BN is at high risk of losing five of these seats, except Kinabatangan, if it does not form an electoral pact with another party in GE16.

At the Umno general assembly last week, secretary-general Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki revealed that there was a wide disconnect between the number of Umno members in Sabah and the votes the party actually received at the polls.

Asyraf said Sabah Umno has more than 622,637 members but ended up securing only 144,584 votes from them. That comes up to just over 23%.

Yakub said many aspects needed to be refined in determining Sabah Umno’s direction for GE16, including its choice of partners and cooperation mechanism.

“It depends on who our partner is. For example, the way we work with PH is different from how we work with other parties,” he said. - FMT