SABAH Amanah today announced the two federal and three state seats it plans to contest in the 14th general election, following the completion of seat talks with its state Pakatan Harapan allies.

The party is eyeing the Batu Sapi and Kalabakan parliamentary seats and the Merotai, Bugaya and Sekong state seats, all of which are held by Barisan Nasional parties.

Sabah Amanah secretary Abdillah Matlin said the decision was made after seat division talks with Amanah’s allies in Sabah, including the state PKR and DAP, on December 9.

The party’s bid for the Sekong state seat, however, is not finalised, pending negotiations with PKR Sabah.

“We are still considering contesting in Sekong.

“But we will bring this again to the negotiation table with PKR Sabah, which had already fielded its candidate in the 13th general elections,” Abdullah said in a statement today.

Amanah, a PAS splinter party, is a political newcomer to Sabah and has based its leadership in Sandakan on the state’s east coast since 2015. The state chapter is led by former PAS leader Hamzah Abdullah.

According to Abdillah, Hamzah is seen to be the best candidate for Batu Sapi as he has ground support there.

Batu Sapi is presently held by Parti Bersatu Sabah’s (PBS) Linda Tsen, while Umno’s Abdul Ghapur Salleh is the incumbent in Kalabakan.  

In the Merotai state seat, BN component Liberal Democratic Party won in 2013 in a tough six-cornered fight filled with independent candidates. Its assemblyman is Pang Yuk Ming.

Bugaya in 2013 also saw a six-cornered fight between independents against Umno’s Ramlee Marhaban, who won the seat with a 3,503 vote majority.

Umno won Sekong through Samsuddin Yahya with a majority of 3,530 votes in a five-cornered fight.

While PH parties have mostly sorted out their seat negotiations, the state pact is still waiting to discuss seat allocations with opposition party Warisan and must do so before the general elections’ nomination day. – February 9, 2018.