BN eyes gains if Sabah goes for early polls

KOTA KINABALU: Barisan Na­­sional is likely to gain more seats if state polls in Sabah are held before the 14th general election.

Political observer Dr Arnold Puyok said a snap election would be advantageous for the ruling Sabah Barisan as it enjoys relatively stable support in the state while the Opposition is fractured.

However, Dr Puyok, a senior lecturer in Politics and International Rela­tions at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sara­wak (Unimas), cautioned that there was a need for Barisan to strengthen the people’s confidence in the coalition.

A Fellow of the Society Empower­ment and Economic Development of Sabah (SEEDS), Dr Puyok was commenting on the possibility of Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman calling for a snap election as early as in April.

Musa is believed to be toying with the idea to avoid national election issues and also because of a divided Opposition.

Dr Puyok said the Opposition in Sabah was not a cohesive force with a new player in former Umno vice-president Datuk Mohd Shafie Apdal’s Parti Warisan Sabah going it alone in the next state elections.

Shafie’s party could be in a scramble for seats with other Opposition parties and Barisan.

“I don’t think Warisan can emerge as an immediate threat especially to Barisan,” Dr Puyok said.

Sabah Barisan officials said they did not rule out the possibility of April election with or without the additional 13 new seats anticipated to be tabled in Parliament in March.

The sharing of the seats might also prove to be a tight rope for the eight Sabah Barisan component parties to walk on.

Some believe it would be easier to go with the current arrangement of 60 seats.

The local Opposition remains in disarray with the entry of Shafie’s Warisan and Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah led by former Sabah PKR chairman Datuk Lajim Ukin.

Sabah Opposition parties have yet to reach any consensus on ta­­king on the Barisan one-on-one while the national opposition parties PKR and DAP have been weakened by a spate of defections late last year.

For now, it looks like a free-for-all in the Opposition camp and the best time for Barisan to strike.

The Opposition, particularly Sha­fie, is staying away from local-based coalition Gabungan Sabah – STAR Sabah led by Bingkor assemblyman Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, Parti Cinta Sabah led by Tamparuli assemblyman Datuk Wilfred Bum­buring and Sabah Progressive Party led by former chief minister Datuk Yong Teck Lee.

Lajim has indicated he will work with Gabungan Sabah.

Shafie, who is seen to be friend­lier with Pakatan Harapan, has so far indicated that he would be going it alone with his Warisan although Gabungan Sabah is hoping Warisan will concentrate on the Umno-held seats in the state.

In the 13th general election, the then Pakatan Rakyat broke new ground by winning 12 of the 60 state and three of the 25 parliament seats. But defections have left them with only two parliament and three state seats.

Some political circles believe the talk of early state polls could be just a red herring and that state polls would be held simultaneously with the 14th general election.

Sabah previously held its own state elections apart for the national polls but since the 11th general election in the 2004, the state has gone together with the national elections.