BN, PN seat allocation for Sabah polls almost done - Annuar

The seat allocation among BN, Perikatan Nasional (PN) and their allies for the upcoming Sabah state election has been 95 percent finalised and an announcement will be made on Tuesday, said BN secretary-general Annuar Musa.

He said BN, PN and their allies have reached a consensus on the seat allocation and the use of logos for the snap polls.

“Being on the opposition side in Sabah, we in BN and PN have agreed to work together to allow only one-on-one fights against Warisan to give the people an alternative for a better Sabah,” said the Sabah election chief coordinator for BN.

Speaking to reporters at the end of his two-day working visit to Labuan last night, Annuar said the opposition front would ensure that its candidates would not contest against each other and party members would support the candidates nominated.

PN in Sabah comprises Bersatu, PAS, Star and Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP), while BN has Sabah Umno, MCA, MIC and Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS). Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) is their ally.

The federal territories minister said each political party, especially from PN, is allowed to use their respective party logo in the election, except BN component parties which will use the BN logo.

“It is up to the political parties to use their respective logo as different constituencies have different behaviour (sentiment) of voting… they have to do their own assessment.

"As far as we are concerned, parties in BN will use the ‘dacing’ (scale) logo, but we can also allow other parties who are friends of BN to contest under the BN logo," he said. 

“We were made to understand that the newly registered PN has its own logo and that will be used by Bersatu and one or two political parties which are friends of PN.

"We are perfectly fine and we agree with it but, most importantly, we share one common manifesto, and we will support each other,” he added.

On talk that three factions (under former chief minister Musa Aman, Kinabatangan MP Bung Moktar Radin and former minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan) exist in Sabah Umno, Annuar said it is quite a normal scenario for leaders within a political party to have different opinions.

The differences, he said, have been visited and there should not be any more problems, adding that their focus now is on negotiations with the other political parties so that they would have a fair distribution of seats.

“When we work as a team, there must be give and take. We have more or less figured out the general guidelines in terms of the number of seats for BN, Bersatu, PBS and PBRS, and this should be ready within these few days.

“BN and friends of PN, which we have named as the United Opposition Front are eager for the election,” he said.

Annuar noted that Sabah is a unique state when it comes to election as the political parties must understand the pulse of the people, with poverty still an issue.

- Bernama