KUALA LUMPUR: Gerakan hopes to be given seats it can contest in the upcoming Sabah state elections as it still has grassroots there, says Gerakan president Datuk Dominic Lau.
Lau said this at the Parti Gerakan Nasional (Gerakan) Chinese New Year celebrations at its headquarters in Cheras on Wednesday (Jan 29).
“We are looking to contest in the Sabah state elections as we had once held the post of Deputy Chief Minister of Sabah.
“We are still looking at one parliamentary constituency and two state seats for the party to contest under Perikatan Nasional in Sabah, which was our suggestion in the last general election too.
“We have also decided on the possible candidates for Gerakan in Sabah.
“However, as to which seat we are targeting is a secret for now. We will take this proposal to Perikatan Supreme Council for the top of the coalition to decide.
“In Sabah, there are non-Muslim bumiputras which we will woo in a different way as compared to the non-Muslims in the Peninsula,” said Lau, who said preparations are also being made for Melaka by-elections.
In the 14th general election, the then Gerakan deputy president Datuk Raymond Tan Shu Kiah, who was one of the three deputy chief ministers of Sabah lost his seat to DAP.
Tan has since left Gerakan and joined Warisan.
In the last Sabah state elections in 2020, the loose coalition of Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) and Parti Bersatu Sabah toppled the Parti Warisan-Pakatan-led state government.
However, after the Nov 2022 parliamentary election, GRS assemblymen led by Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor abandoned Perikatan and switched allegiance to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
