Opposition parties fail to strike deal for a one-to-one fight against BN in Batu Sapi
KOTA KINABALU: Both Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) will vie for the Batu Sapi parliamentary seat in the Nov 4 by-election after the two opposition parties failed yesterday to strike a deal on a one-to-one fight against the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN).
Yong (3rd left) shaking hands with William after the lunch meeting yesterday. Also seen from left are Liew, Amde, Thamrin, Jeffrey and Christina.
Leaders from the two parties who discussed the issue during an hour-long lunch meeting here stuck to their decisions to contest the seat which fell vacant following the sudden death of MP Datuk Edmund Chong Ket Wah in a road accident on Oct 9.
After the meeting at a restaurant in Penampang, SAPP president Datuk Yong Teck Lee said the party did not see any reason not to contest in the by-election.
However, the parties agreed not to campaign against each other, he said, adding that Batu Sapi would become a ‘reference point’ to the opposition’s future discussions.
“Our aim is to topple the BN government, and our subject in Batu Sapi will be BN and Umno. Our campaign will focus on the BN,” he stressed.
On the perception that with the opposition votes split between SAPP and PKR, BN would have an easy win, Yong said they have looked at three possible outcomes if both parties contested against the BN.
One is that BN will win, with the total combined opposition votes being far less than the votes polled by the ruling coalition, he said.
The second possible result is the opposition will lose but its combined total votes will be more than BN’s total votes, then everybody and every party will see an urgent need for an opposition alliance in Sabah,” he said.
The last case scenario is either one of the opposition parties will win, then BN will be in trouble, added Yong, who was accompanied by deputy president Datuk Liew Teck Chan and supreme council member Amde Sidek.
PKR treasurer-general William Leong Jee Keen, who represented the party’s leadership in the meeting, said the two parties will continue to engage in further discussions beyond the Batu Sapi by-election because they share the same purpose, to form a better government.
“A lot of issues we will discuss and work together, especially for the coming general election,” he said.
SAPP will announce its candidate on Saturday around 9.20 am while William said the PKR candidate would be known soon.
There are 25,582 registered voters, including 1,535 postal voters, in the Batu Sapi constituency.
Also present at the meeting yesterday were PKR vice president Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, State PKR chief Ahmad Thamrin Jaini, Kota Kinabalu PKR chief Christina Liew and PKR Tuaran division chief Ansari Abdullah.