BN and Umno were dominating Perikatan Nasional seat negotiations for the upcoming Sabah state election, alleged Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (Star) president Jeffrey Gapari Kitingan.
He said this to Malaysiakini when met at the Federal Court today after he attended a round of negotiations this morning in Putrajaya.
Kitingan (above) accused BN and Umno of wanting to have the lion's share of seats at a time when the local sentiment was more favourable to local parties.
"It should be the other way around. Local parties should have more seats than the 'semenanjung' party," said the 71-year-old Kitingan, a veteran in Sabah's political scene.
He said Star's position was that they should have the right to field 15 to 18 candidates on behalf of PN.
Star's goal was for their party and Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) to collectively field 30 to 35 candidates for seats where the Kadazan Dusun and Murut (KDM) made up the majority of voters.
"If we don't get that, people may be unhappy and we cannot get the results we want. People may not be favourable to PN.
"If I had a financial backer, I'll (field more candidates) and lawan (fight) everybody, because this (local parties) is what the people want.
"If they cut us into small pieces, this is called divide and rule. We do not want that," he added.
According to Kitingan, discussions are still ongoing and may conclude as early as tomorrow.
Star is a relatively new party led by Kitingan.
The party made a blip during the 2013 elections when Kitingan won the Bingkor seat. They would go on to win two seats in the 2018 elections. - Mkini
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