SHANGHAI: The effectiveness of political cooperation between Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan in the Sabah state polls will be a yardstick for a similar tie-up for the 16th General Election (GE16), says Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The Deputy Prime Minister, who is also Barisan chairman and Umno president, said if the Sabah “template” proves successful, cooperation between the two coalitions in the next national polls would be something to be considered.
“What we want to focus on now is to settle the Sabah polls first. If it is a success, we will study to see how best the political cooperation can be implemented for the general election,” he told Malaysian journalists here as he wrapped up his five-day visit to China.
He was here to attend the Global Public Security Forum held in Lianyungang city in Jiangsu province, and also the Halal Round Table Dialogue and Malaysia-China Halal Business Forum besides witnessing the signing of strategic agreements between Malaysian and Chinese corporations.Ahmad Zahid said that there is a good working relation between the two coalitions within the unity government currently.
“What I can say for now is that clearly there is compatibility between Barisan and Pakatan,” he added.
He said Sabah Barisan’s decision to forge cooperation with Pakatan for the state polls was unanimous and agreed by Umno at the national and state level.
“Umno is of the view that this is the best move to ensure the unity government remains intact in Putrajaya and for the cooperation to be extended to Sabah,” he added.
Ahmad Zahid was asked to comment on remarks by Sabah Umno chairman Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin that the coalition was fine-tuning its political cooperation with Pakatan for the state polls, which is due by September next year.
The DPM said Umno remains open to exploring possible collaboration with other political parties in Sabah interested in forging an alliance.
However, for this to happen, he said there should not be negative statements against the party, adding that Umno should not be labelled a peninsula party which should not be in Sabah.
“This kind of statement does not help in building trust and bridging differences,” he added.
