SANDAKAN – Caretaker prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob expressed his hope to secure 15 parliament seats from Sabah that would endorse him to become the 10th prime minister.
“As the candidate of the 10th prime minister, I hope for Sabah to contribute (to the cause).
“I believe that Sabah can contribute a minimum of 15 seats to the federal government,” he said when addressing the crowd during a ceramah in PPR Gum-Gum, Mile 16, here, today.
Despite casting such hopes, Barisan Nasional (BN) is only contesting 12 seats in Sabah.
It cannot be ascertained why he mentioned 15 seats, but this could indicate that his expectation that GRS would also support him instead of Perikatan Nasional.
At a press conference later, Ismail Sabri was asked about the 15 seats that he mentioned, to which he quickly answered: “I was made to understand that 15 seats were targeted. I hope we get more than that.”
His answer was, however, cut short due to azan (Islamic call for prayer).
Ismail’s presence today here is to support BN’s candidate in Libaran, Datuk Suhaimi Nasir, who had previously lost the Gum-Gum state seat during the 2020 Sabah election.
Earlier, Ismail said that he was very impressed with how both GRS and BN can work together in facing the election, and that even Sabah Bersatu members can be present supporting BN’s candidate at the same event.
He also stressed that BN will ensure that it will solve all issues pertaining to the Malaysia Agreement in 1963, without specifically mentioning any particular issue.
“We will do it one at a time. But so far, under the MA63 special committee chaired by me, we have done a lot,” he said. – The Vibes, November 15, 2022