KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Barisan Nasional is confident that there will be no clash with their ally Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) in sharing the 25 Parliament seats.
Sabah Barisan chairman Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin expects a close to 50-50 seat sharing ratio to be in place between the two coalitions for the 15th General Election.
Bung said there would be no clash of seats between Barisan and GRS and the distribution would be based on a win-win situation.
"We have already discussed sharing the 25 seats with GRS over the last six months. It's a win-win for us (Barisan and GRS).”
He said that Barisan and GRS would announce their candidates together before nomination day.
Barisan itself would field 80% new faces, he told reporters after launching his Kinabatangan delegates meeting here Saturday (Oct 15).
Sabah Barisan is composed of four parties - Umno, Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS), MCA and MIC.
GRS comprises five parties - Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia Sabah chapter, Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), Sabah STAR, Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) and Usno.
Both Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi have given the blessing for Barisan and Sabah Bersatu (under GRS) to work together at the state level though both parties are at loggerheads at the federal level.
Barisan would have its own logo while parties in GRS will use their logo for the first time since the coalition was formally registered in March this year.
However, GRS chairman Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, who met with component party leaders on Thursday (Oct 13) told reporters that seat arrangements were still not yet in place.
He said the GRS supreme council agreed to work with Sabah Barisan but issues of seat sharing had not been finalised.
It is understood that under a proposed formula, GRS will take 13 seats while Barisan would get 12.
However, it does not immediately look like that parties within GRS and Barisan will be accepting the proposed seat share that was still tabled for discussion.
GRS' Bersatu and Sabah Barisan’s Umno are also looking at swapping seats in the overall deal for the two coalitions that only two-years ago toppled the Warisan-Pakatan Harapan-Upko state government led by Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal in the September 2020 snap state election.
