KOTA KINABALU - Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) will probably be the kingmaker over who the next Sabah chief minister will be in the wake of the state election that took place today.
At the time of writing Umno has thus far captured 15 seats and the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition won 16 seats.
Bersatu won 10 seats while Sabah Star won 6. So PN has a single-seat edge over Umno.
Umno is the lead party in the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.
BN, PN and PBS together comprise the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) coalition which was cobbled together just prior to the election.
It is understood that the component among the three to garner the most seats is meant to choose the chief minister.
However, a reliable source from Umno said PBS will not support Sabah Umno chief Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin as the chief minister.
"Actually, we are deeply disappointed. I even saw Bung was not happy,” the source said. "This is mainly because PBS and Umno clashed in one seat, Melalap.”
Alternatively, the chief minister can be selected based on majority support of the GRS assemblymen.
Because of this, PBS reps can throw a spanner in the works of Umno’s plan to make Bung Moktar the chief minister.
Incidentally, PN component Sabah Star led by Datuk Jeffrey Kitingan clashed with PBS in six constituencies in this election
PBS and Sabah Star are known to openly feud with each other. – The Vibes, September 26, 2020.
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