KOTA KINABALU: Parti Warisan, which is going it alone in the upcoming Sabah state election, does not see an issue in contesting against its Federal Government allies.
Its information chief Datuk Azis Jamman said there did not seem to be a problem with Pakatan Harapan being in opposition to Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) at the state level but working together under the federal unity government.
"Why should Warisan's stand to go solo in Sabah be questioned when no one questions Sarawak Pakatan going against GPS at the state level there?" he said in a statement on Tuesday (March 11).
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He was responding to PKR communications director Lee Chean Chung's call to Warisan to clarify its position in the unity government if it was serious about going solo in the Sabah polls.
Azis said GPS had refused to accept Pakatan as a coalition partner at the state level, but its position in the unity government was not made an issue.
Azis said Warisan's position had been clear that it remains in the opposition at state level to the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) state government led by Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, but fully supports the unity government led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
He said that in the September 2020 state election, Warisan had an electoral pact with Sabah Pakatan, but they went their separate ways after losing power.
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He noted that they even clashed in several seats in GE15 in 2022.
Following the election, Warisan backed the formation of the unity government led by Anwar.
"Warisan decided to remain in opposition at the state level," Azis added.
Then in January 2023, Sabah Pakatan threw in its lot with GRS after Sabah Barisan Nasional withdrew support for Hajiji, he said.
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All major parties in Sabah are part of the federal unity government, although in Sabah, Warisan and Parti KDM have stayed out of the GRS state government.
No clear political pact is being seen ahead of the state election due later this year.
GRS is keen to work with Sabah Pakatan but not with Sabah Barisan, which in turn is not open to working with GRS, although it expressed readiness to forge an electoral pact with Sabah Pakatan and certain local parties.
