With the next Sabah state election fast approaching, Sabah DAP deputy chief Chan Foong Hin has dissected the complex seat negotiations and the possible “partial alliances” expected in the polls.
He revealed that while Pakatan Harapan has held multiple formal rounds of seat negotiations with BN, talks with Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) remain at an informal discussion stage.
He said that while GRS chairperson Hajiji Noor prefers to cooperate with Harapan for the upcoming polls, there remains a faction within GRS pushing to go solo – by fielding candidates in every seat.
He identified Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP), United Sabah National Organisation (Usno) president Pandikar Amin Mulia, and Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (Star) president Jeffrey Kitingan as part of the faction pushing for GRS to go solo.
“Their stance is ‘rumah kita, kita jaga’ (we guard our house). They feel that since GRS is the ruling party in Sabah and the chief minister is from GRS, they should contest all seats,” Chan said.
He said that ultimately, even if Harapan and GRS reach a seat-sharing deal, some GRS component parties may still insist on contesting under their own logos.
“We cannot completely rule out this possibility,” he told Malaysiakini on a Chinese-language podcast.
The episode was released yesterday on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.
Complex seat negotiations
Chan, who is also deputy plantation and commodities minister, noted that recent reports of Kitingan threatening to pull Star out of GRS stemmed from this political context.
On July 3, Star deputy information chief Ardino Diris clarified that Star would remain in GRS, explaining that Kitingan’s remarks merely indicated he would not accept a seat allocation limiting Star to its existing eight seats.
According to Chan, seat negotiations between Harapan and GRS have so far involved only informal meetings with individual GRS leaders.
He said Sabah’s political landscape changed after the 2022 general election, making the seat talks for the upcoming state polls even more complex.
“Previously, negotiations were simpler. Harapan only had three parties in Sabah. When United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (Upko) joined, it became four parties, so discussions were internal.
“But now, we are negotiating with BN, and GRS is also approaching us... All these talks are happening concurrently,” he said.
4 political blocs and shifting alliances
Sabah’s four major political blocs are GRS, BN, Harapan, and Warisan. Although all four are part of the federal government, their state-level positions differ.
GRS and Harapan form the ruling coalition in Sabah, while BN and Warisan are in the opposition, though a small number of BN assemblypersons back Hajiji’s government.
Both BN and GRS are seeking electoral cooperation with Harapan, while Warisan is expected to go solo.
Despite this, Chan said DAP does not intend to engage in an all-out fight with Warisan and plans to stay out of certain seats, including the three state constituencies in Semporna - Warisan president Shafie Apdal’s stronghold.
However, he said there are seats where DAP and Warisan cannot compromise, such as Sri Tanjong and Elopura, both won by DAP in the last election.
The two assemblypersons for Sri Tanjong (Justin Wong) and Elopura (Calvin Chong) quit DAP in January 2022 and joined Warisan two months later.
Chan believes that since DAP and Warisan are partners in the Madani government, they should not view each other as enemies despite contesting in the state polls.
He recalled that in the 2020 Sabah state election, Warisan and Harapan contested as a team known as “Warisan Plus”, with DAP and Amanah candidates using Warisan’s banner, while PKR and Upko retained their own.
This time, Chan said Harapan will contest under a common logo.
“Of course, Kitingan has imposed a condition - if we want to cooperate with GRS, we must use the GRS logo.
“But so far, since there has been no formal meeting between Harapan and GRS, this has not been discussed,” he added.
Polls expected in September after dissolution
Hajiji, who is also the Sabah chief minister, confirmed on July 8 that the state assembly had concluded its final sitting for this term. However, he did not disclose when the assembly would be dissolved.
By law, the current assembly will automatically dissolve on Nov 11.
Chan said political circles expect Hajiji to announce dissolution after the upcoming Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (PGRS) congress later this month.
He said that since the Dewan Rakyat will reconvene from July 21 until the end of August, the Sabah polls are likely to be held in September, allowing parties to focus on campaigning.
“Unless GRS wants to avoid having too many outsiders, like Umno campaigners, then perhaps they may hold the polls during the parliamentary sitting. That is hard to say.
“But as of now, the strongest talk is dissolution at the end of July or early August, with polls in September,” he said. - Mkini
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