THE POLITICAL scenario is already heating up as Sabahans, who were used to seeing “frogs” among their politicians for many years, slowly prepare for the state election due next year.
Datuk Ewon Benedick today called on the ruling parties in Sabah not to claim seats under their control that they had acquired through defections.
He said it is important that there are negotiations among allies to avert overlapping claims ahead of the Sabah election scheduled in 2025.
The president of United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (Upko), a component of Pakatan Harapan (PH), said that Sabah has undergone significant shifts in political alignments since the last state election in September 2020.
Benedick said parties and alliances that gained seats due to defections of reps from elsewhere cannot assert entitlement over such seats as these were obtained by virtue of party hopping. The same applies to existing parties that experienced defeats in certain constituencies during the last election but later saw their winning candidates depart to other parties.
“We recognise that all parties will express their views and demands for seats leading up to the Sabah election in 2025.
“I disagree with using seats won by turncoat assemblymen as the determining factor to claim ownership for that coalition or party.
“New parties and coalitions should not automatically claim seats simply because a turncoat has joined their ranks,” he said.
Benedick was speaking to reporters in Sipitang during the inauguration of Upko’s Zone E Convention, involving the Sipitang and Labuan divisions.
Upko’s traditional state seats included Kuamut, Sugut, Moyog, Panginatan, Bingkor, and Nabawan when it was part of Barisan Nasional (BN).
However, these seats are currently held by other parties.
The party left BN after the general election in 2018 and joined PH in 2021.
Benedick, the state rep for Kadamaian, is the sole assemblyman from Upko at present.
Upko won the state seat under the BN ticket in 2018 and again in 2020 while being allies with Warisan and PH.
However, Benedick was previously reported as saying he wanted Upko to contest the Limbahau state seat as well.
Limbahau is currently held by Datuk Juil Nuatim, who won it under the Warisan ticket. Nuatim later joined the Kesejahteraan Demokratik Party (KDM party) led by controversial politician Datuk Peter Anthony.
The state’s political stability has often been compromised by the actions of party hoppers. Like any other Sabah party, Upko too had seen a fair share of turncoats, before the state decided to adopt the anti-party hopping law in May 2023.
In mid-2020, the party saw the departure of Datuk James Ratib (Sugut assemblyman) and Datuk Limus Jury (Kuala Penyu).
Upko also later sacked Datuk Abidin Madingkir (Panginatan rep) over his alleged role in a political coup that resulted in the collapse of the Warisan-led government, which Upko had been part of, and led to snap state election being held in 2020.
Upko had also lost an assemblyman when it was part of BN until 2018.
It lost leaders like Datuk Masiung Banah (Kuamut) and Datuk Bobbey Ah Fang Suan (former Nabawan).
The party later joined PH and became part of the Sabah opposition group until January 2023.
This was when PH, with six assembly members, decided to support Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) whose position of power over the state became unstable after Umno withdrew its support for GRS on January 6, 2023.
PH is now part of the ruling alliance in Sabah, along with GRS. – The Vibes, February 4, 2024
