BAGAN DATUK: Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Harapan (PH) have finalised the seat distribution for the 17th Sabah State Election to ensure there are no clashes between the two coalitions.
BN chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said he understood that the seat distribution negotiations between PH and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) were in the final stages.
"I hope that by Nov 15, we will know the actual number of seats contested by each coalition party," he said at a press conference after the Majlis Santunan Kasih Deepavali Bagan Datuk 2025 here on Sunday (Oct 19).
Ahmad Zahid, who is also Umno president, said 80 per cent of BN’s candidates comprised of new faces, including candidates from the Wanita, Youth and Puteri wings.
"This signals that BN Sabah is ready to give new hope to voters in Sabah. All of the candidates are 100 per cent locals,” he said.
Ahmad Zahid also acknowledged that clashes between BN and GRS candidates were inevitable.
The Election Commission has set Nov 29 as the polling day for the 17th Sabah election, with the nomination date set for Nov 15 and the early voting date for Nov 25.
Ahmad Zahid also dismissed media reports regarding the presence of MIC deputy president Datuk Seri M. Saravanan and Perikatan Nasional (PN) secretary-general Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali at a gold shop opening ceremony in Little India, Brickfields, in Kuala Lumpur recently.
"Everyone can be friends regardless of political party, race or religion, and we as Malaysians are very open. It is best that we only fight during elections; apart from that, we must continue to support our friends," he said.
Earlier, Ahmad Zahid presented Deepavali donations in the form of 2,000 food boxes to B40 families as well as RM100 vouchers to 703 students of Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil in the Bagan Datuk parliamentary constituency. – Bernama
