KOTA KINABALU – Other than his visit in mid-October, Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has not visited Sabah as the two-week election campaign comes to an end tonight.
In Sabah, Bersatu is the linchpin of the ruling coalition Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), which has a pact with Umno’s Barisan Nasional (BN) at the state level.
Bersatu and Umno are also rivals in the peninsula through the BN and Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalitions.
While Muhyiddin indicated on October 12 that a Bersatu candidate winning any parliamentary seat will contribute to PN’s GE15 tally, GRS chairman Datuk Seri Hajiji Mohd Noor has not been forthcoming about his allegiance to PN.
A source told The Vibes, GRS will take a non-affiliated stand, keeping all the seats they would win in this election for a major political swing.
“GRS has a wait-and-see attitude. They will offer their seats to a strong political group when the time comes after the election.
“So, it may not be PN, it could also be BN, but definitely not Pakatan Harapan (PH) at this point in time.”
Bersatu is contesting in six parliamentary seats in Sabah – Kudat, Papar, Sipitang, Ranau, Batu Sapi and Semporna while BN is running in 12.
GRS is a Sabah-registered political party and all candidate appointments were issued by Hajiji, who is also Sabah Bersatu chairman.
Sabah Star and SAPP are also components of GRS and PN.
The sole PN candidate in Sabah is Datuk Seri Ronald Kiandee, also a Bersatu leader.
At this point in time, Kiandee is the only candidate who pledged support for a PN prime minister should the coalition clinch a GE15 victory.
However, Hajiji in his trip to Batu Sapi on November 16, echoed caretaker prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s statement made a few kilometres away in Sandakan on the same day.
Hajiji had said the GRS-BN pact could contribute more than 15 seats to the federal government while Ismail Sabri announced that BN would pocket 15 via the pact.
While BN has made Ismail Sabri its prime minister candidate, Hajiji’s response could likely point to GRS backing a BN prime minister.
Another source believed Muhyiddin had known that he could not rely on GRS to give him the seats, so he did not make any appearance in Sabah since October.
“He (Muhyiddin) probably already knows that the Bersatu leaders from Sabah may not give him the seats.
“And if that happens, there’s a possibility that the Bersatu leaders may leave the party after the election if PN does not do well.”
The party source said this is why they are keeping Usno and PBS around as a safe house.
“It just does not make sense if Sabah Bersatu backs BN and turns their back on Muhyiddin. There must be some kind of repercussions from the top leadership in the peninsula.”
The source added that GRS is emulating Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), which has yet to make a clear political allegiance.
Observers see the three main coalitions – BN, PN and PH – will not secure a simple majority in the Dewan Rakyat post-election.
They may be forced to look into the 56 seats in Sabah and Sarawak, while striking deals with other parties and alliances to secure the mandate. – The Vibes, November 18, 2022
