KOTA KINABALU: The state Barisan Nasional must show solidarity with its partner Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) to ensure a "bigger victory" in the Nov 19 polls.
Caretaker Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said there should no longer be any divisions among themselves and cooperation was vital for the two Sabah-based coalitions that won the state government in the 2020 snap polls.
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"To win, we have to stand in solidarity with each other in Umno and in Sabah; we have to stand in solidarity with our friends who currently rule the state government," he told a crowd at the Sabah Barisan's Blue Wave programme in Kimanis about 60km from here Sunday (Oct 23).
"There is no point in us challenging each other for all seats but at the end, losing in the election. We go into the election with only one goal, which is to win every seat we contest in," he said.
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The Prime Minister, who made a quick day visit to Sabah, said that it was not important to contest many seats but what was important was to win the seats that they contested.
"We can contest for all the 25 seats in Sabah. But, those seats we hoped to win, we could lose and also face the danger of losing the seats we can win," he said, adding that it would be difficult for Barisan to win all seats if there was a split among them.
"What's important is unity," he added.
Ismail Sabri said there were some outside parties trying to divide him and Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who was also present at the launching of the Blue Wave in Kimanis.
"We decided to go down to the grassroots to make sure people and members see that the relationship between me and the president is very close and cannot be broken by anyone.
"In fact, it is said that there is a Putrajaya cluster led by me and a PWTC cluster led by the president but, rest assured, there is no Putrajaya cluster, no PWTC cluster. There is only the Umno cluster led by the president," he told the crowd.
The Umno vice-president said, in order for Barisan to be strong in Putrajaya, they needed to win big and control some of the seats in the existing coalition.
He said it is important for Barisan to emerge as a dominant party in the election and if it fails to do so, the situation would be similar to the political situation after the 2018 general election.
The Prime Minister later met with Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, who is GRS chairman, at Seri Gaya here on Sunday afternoon.
Sabah Barisan and GRS have agreed on a general framework of seat sharing though they are currently negotiating over overlapping seats wanted by the two coalitions.
