BAGAN DATUK, Oct 19 — Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Harapan (PH) have finalised seat distribution for the 17th Sabah state election to ensure there is no clash 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 of being finalised.
“I hope that on Nov 15 we will know the actual number of seats that will be contested by each coalition party,” he said at a press conference after the ‘Majlis Santunan Kasih Deepavali Bagan Datuk 2025, here today.
Ahmad Zahid, who is also Umno president, said BN would present candidates who could win with 80 per cent of the candidates comprising new faces including from Wanita, Youth and Puteri.
“This is to give a signal that BN Sabah is ready to spread the differences this time so that we can give new hope to the voters in Sabah. All of them (BN candidates) are 100 per cent locals,” he said.
Ahmad Zahid, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, said that in any case, the clash between BN and GRS candidates is 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.
On 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, Ahmad Zahid said it was normal.
“Everyone can be friends regardless of political party, race or religion and we as Malaysians are very open, but 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
Malay Mail – Malaysia
