The Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah president also says his opposition bloc is prepared for talks with other opposition parties to ensure straight fights with the BN.
Its president Lajim Ukin confirmed he would be defending the Klias state seat but would “remain open” as to whether to contest the Beaufort parliamentary seat as well. He said he preferred to give the opportunity to other Harapan Rakyat leaders.
Lajim said his closest possible rival for the seat, Isnin Aliasnih of Umno, could talk all he liked about his chances of wresting the seat from him but that, eventually, it would be up to the voters.
“At the same time, everybody knows there is much infighting among Umno members in Klias. Each of them wants to become the Umno candidate in the election,” he said, after welcoming 22 former Umno and PKR leaders and members into the party today.
Lajim was responding to Isnin’s declaration that the BN could wrest back the Klias state seat in the next election because the people were “frustrated” over the lack of development in the constituency since the last general election.
In the general election in 2013, Isnin, who contested on a BN ticket for the state seat, lost to Lajim, who contested on a PKR ticket, with a razor-thin majority of 179 votes.
Lajim said, in the previous election, the small majority was mainly due to the lack of strong issues to attract voters.
“I contested under a PKR ticket. What issue did we bring but PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim and his cases? Furthermore, at the time, PKR was not fully ready to face the election.
“The division was in a mess, the branches in disarray. But this time around, the situation is different,” he said.
Lajim said this time more people would vote for his party as they were suffering because of the rising cost of living, the introduction of the GST that had burdened the people, the high price of fuel and the cancellation of subsidies, among others.
At the same time, he said, his party was already on the right track to face the election.
“In Beaufort alone, our party has more than 6,000 registered members and our supporters, who have yet to become members, are way more than that,” he said.
Meanwhile, Lajim confirmed that Gabungan Sabah, an alliance of local opposition parties which includes Lajim’s party, had not had any talk with other parties regarding possible collaboration in the coming election.
However, he did not dismiss the idea that something could be worked out between his alliance and other parties.
“Maybe we could agree on a formula so that we will not be competing with each other, for example between Gabungan and Pakatan Harapan.
“We welcome any form of cooperation because we have the same goal, to topple the current government. If one party insists on contesting as many seats as possible, if they lose the seats, it would only harm our chances because of split votes.
“In the end, we might end up with five or six-cornered fights for one seat. The problem in Sabah is obvious… we have too many parties,” he said.
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