KOTA KINABALU: Opposition parties should not be ‘caught by surprise’ over DAP Sabah’s claim to certain seats in the upcoming general election, said its secretary Chan Foong Hin.
Instead of feeling uneasy, seat negotiations should be expedited among opposition parties, as the general election is not too far from now, said Chan, who is also Sri Tanjong assemblyman, at the Hari Raya open house of Warisan president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal in Semporna.
Also present were Kota Kinabalu MP Jimmy Wong, DAPSY Sabah chief Vincent Fung, DAP Sabah assistant secretary Tan Lee Fatt and other Tawau local leaders.
Chan clarified to Warisan Youth chief Dato Mohd Aziz Jamman at the open house that a news report claiming DAP wanted to field candidates in the Kota Kinabalu, Penampang, Putatan and Sepanggar parliamentary as well as the Darau and Tanjung Aru state seats was not accurate.
He denied DAP was eyeing Penampang, saying all the seats won by the opposition should be defended by the respective parties that won those seats.
“That’s the number one rule in the seat negotiations and must be honored. Any speculations that DAP is trying to grab the Penampang parliamentary seat that was won by PKR is baseless,” he said.
“Kota Kinabalu has been a DAP seat for some time and in the last election we have also contested in Putatan and Sepangar.
“So before any latest seat negotiation is decided, we would like to announce that we would still play an active role in these two parliamentary seats besides Kota Kinabalu,” he said.
Chan concurred with Aziz’s statement that it was crucial for opposition parties to avoid multi-cornered fights. However, as Aziz has pointed out correctly, “the negotiations on seats has not even started” between Warisan and DAP.
“I know the time would come for the opposition leaders to work out the seat allocation, but we would like to see the process expedited,” said Chan.
Just before Hari Raya, DAP Sabah chairman Stephen Wong had openly said that DAP Sabah hoped to finalize the Pakatan Harapan Sabah seat negotiations by the end of July, and DAP Sabah had identified 20 state seats and eight parliamentary seats it wants to contest in.
“Time and tide waits for no man. We need to move our election machineries forward,” he said.