Seats contested will be known this week - Sabah Bersatu chief

Sabah Bersatu chief Hajiji Noor said Bersatu would be revealing the number of state seats the party will contest in the upcoming Sabah state election by this week.

"We still have time. (The nomination date) set for Sept 12," Hajiji was quoted as saying by Bernama at an event in Tawau today.

It was reported on July 30 that Sabah Umno chief Bung Moktar Radin announced that his party would contest in 32 seats, including those "traditionally" belonged to the party.

In response, Hajiji (photo, above) said Bersatu had identified 45 seats out of the 73 available, including eight seats won on an Umno ticket in 2018 but whose lawmakers have since defected to Bersatu.

Bersatu secretary-general Hamzah Zainuddin said his party was willing to compromise on the number of seats for its allies.

Hajiji hoped there would be no clash due to overlapping seats among allies so that Perikatan Nasional (PN) stands a better chance to win the state polls.

"My advice is that we need to support each other. PN, BN and their allies must be united," he said.

He also hoped that Bersatu could contest in two out of four state seats in Kalabakan parliamentary seat, which sits at the southern of Sabah.

Kalabakan, a mixed parliamentary seat with 53 percent Malay, was once the stronghold of BN that won by Umno's Abdul Ghapur Salleh from 2004 to 2018. In 2018, he was defeated by Warisan's Ma'mun Sulaiman.

Sebatik and Tanjong Batu, both state seats under Kalabakan were won by Umno's Abd Muis Picho and Hamisa Samad; both had since defected to Warisan.

The other two state seats in Kalabakan are Merotai, was won by Warisan's Sarifuddin Hata, while Kukusan is a newly created seat.

Meanwhile, Kalabakan Umno chief Andi Muhammad Suryady Bandy was quoted by Umno Online as saying the party would contest in all the four seats under the constituency.

Umno would defend both Sebatik and Tanjong Batu seats and eyed to contest in Kukusan, he said.

Andi also saw a chance for his party to win Merotai, which previously contested by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which left BN following its defeat in 2018 general election.

The Sabah polls were called following a political coup attempt by former chief minister Musa Aman. The nomination date is set for Sept 12 while polling has been fixed on Sept 26. - Mkini