KOTA KINABALU: Pakatan Harapan (PH) Sabah may form a united front with the other local opposition parties, in its bid to topple the government in the upcoming election.
Its chairperson Christina Liew said that PH Sabah would only start negotiating with the other opposition parties once the seat negotiations between the component parties of PH had been completed.
“I know that people will ask us which party we would want to work with. Actually, we already have an idea on which party we want to work with but our doors are always open,” she told reporters at its Malaysia Day celebration cum the soft launching of the PH manifesto.
However, Christina admitted that it might be impossible for Sabah to have a one-on-one fight in the next election, as there were over twelve opposition parties in Sabah.
“Even if we can reach a pact with the other opposition parties in Sabah, there would be certain parties who would disagree.
“The important thing for the people of Sabah now is to realize who the real ‘opposition’. That is our real focus,” the Api-Api assemblywoman asserted.
She explained that PH might be working with one or two local parties, which shared the same goal as PH.
It was revealed that the seat negotiations between Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), Democratic Action Party (DAP) and National Trust Party (Amanah) went on smoothly.
“We have completed almost 90 per cent of the seat negotiations. I have discussed this with DAP Sabah chairman Stephen Wong.
Although there had been a bit on overlap, as both PKR and DAP had been eyeing some similar seats, Christina said she was confident that the two would be able to reach an agreement.
It is understood that there are only four or five rural/urban seats that are currently still being negotiated between PKR and DAP.
Also present in the press conference yesterday was PH president cum PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
Commenting on the rumours of certain local opposition parties going straight to Wan Azizah to conduct negotiations, the Permatang Pauh MP admitted that there had been a few ‘informal talks’ between her and some of the parties.
She had also echoed Christina’s contention, in which she said that it was vital for the opposition parties to work together.
“We have to be united in toppling the government. If we are divided, our chances would be lesser. Thus, our doors are always open to those who are willing to approach us,” Wan Azizah said.