KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Umno is planning to contest nearly half of the 73 seats in the upcoming state election, says Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin.
"We are looking at no fewer than the 34 seats we contested in the last state election in September 2020," he told reporters after attending a Putatan Umno event on Friday (Oct 25) night.
However, the Sabah Barisan chairman then said that there had been no formal discussions with the state Pakatan Harapan although national leaders might have considered working together for the upcoming polls under the national unity government alignment.
As for which party Sabah Barisan might collaborate with, Bung said this will be decided among friends and partners.
He then said that Sabah Barisan is open to negotiations and collaborations with any local parties as long as the direction and objectives are aligned.
The Kinabatangan MP then said that Sabah Umno election director Jeffrey Noh will be the candidate for the Tanjung Keramat seat currently held by Umno’s suspended assemblyman, Datuk Shahelmey Yahya.
Shahelmey aligned himself with Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor when Sabah Barisan-Umno pulled out of the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah coalition government during the failed political coup in January last year.
Earlier, Bung urged Umno members and leaders to prepare for the state election and encouraged all division chiefs to work towards increasing membership and addressing issues within the party.
He also called on members in the Tanjung Keramat division to support its candidate and reclaim the seat from its current holder, Shahelmey.
“We must take this seat back from traitors, and our only option is to win. We cannot leave traitors there; if there are traitors, we must remove them,” he asserted.
On Hajiji’s recent statement that Umno was still part of the GRS government in Sabah, Bung stood firm that Umno is no longer part of this coalition.
"We must topple the GRS-state government in the next state election," he said.
