BERSATU is in talks with Parti Warisan Sabah on whether to set up a Sabah chapter, following locals’ demand, said Muhyiddin Yassin.

However, said the Bersatu president, the party’s entry into Sabah depends on whether it gets the go-ahead from Warisan.

“We want Warisan to negotiate with these people first… We don’t want conflict with Warisan, as its interests are also important. Because they are a pro-Pakatan Harapan party, and PH is important,” he told reporters in Petaling Jaya today.

“However, if a majority of them still don’t want to join Warisan and still say they want to be with us (Bersatu), we already have an understanding with Warisan.”

It has been widely speculated that Bersatu will set up a Sabah chapter after elected representatives and ordinary members left the state Umno in droves about a week ago, citing loss of faith in the top leadership.

They have expressed a desire to join Bersatu instead of Warisan. However, Bersatu does not have a presence in Sabah due to an understanding between the party and the Chief Minister Mohd Shafie Apdal-led outfit, which has pledged support to the PH federal administration.

Muhyiddin said the understanding between PH and Warisan was reached before the 14th general election.

“We have promised that we won’t establish a presence in Sabah as we want Warisan to be the party of choice for Sabahans. Our strategy was good because we won, as we didn’t contest against each other. We were able to form (the federal and Sabah) governments.

“But now, there is fresh demand (for Bersatu to set up a Sabah chapter), but we have to be very careful. We don’t want there be conflict between us and Warisan.”

If Bersatu is to spread its wings to Sabah, he said, it must be ensured that the party does not pose undue competition to Warisan.

“We do not want a situation where when go into an election, both Bersatu and Warisan want to contest. That would see us both lose due to a split vote.”

Muhyiddin said he has set a one-month time frame to complete the talks with the Sabah party. – December 24, 2018.