THE Sabah election will not only affect voters there, but it will also have an impact at the federal level, said Liew Chin Tong. 

The Johor DAP chairman said the dissolution of the state assembly on July 30 has shown the firm leadership of caretaker chief minister Mohd Shafie Apdal.  

“It has also injected a positive spirit into Pakatan Harapan (PH) Plus supporters. The ‘katak’ (party hoppers) who had wanted to jump will not be rewarded.  

“Instead, they may lose their seats. Some will not even be placed as candidates and some will not win,” he said in a post on his blog and Facebook page today

The Sabah elections began today with nominations and polling day is on September 26 and early voting on September 22.

Liew said that, clearly, the message of the Sabah state election this time is for all Malaysians to teach a lesson to treacherous politicians and those who betray the people’s struggle.

“Sabah’s political development will shape the country’s political direction. The uprising of the people of Sabah on September 26 will have a big impact on national politics.”

He said PH must now work hard to ensure victory in the state election. 

“If we can win big on September 26, then Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin will think twice before calling for a surprise general election.”

The state election was called on July 30 after an attempt by former chief minister Musa Aman and assemblymen aligned to the federal government to overthrow Shafie. 

Liew also said Shafie did not join Muhyiddin’s team during the Sheraton move in February. 

“In fact, he continued to fight together with his friends who opposed the Muhyiddin government.

He said in 2008, the opposition won 80 seats out of 165 seats in the peninsula, while in 2018, PH won 98 seats in the peninsula. 

“PH is capable of winning around 80 seats in the peninsula. In the worst case scenario, I believe PH will maintain the 80 seats. 

“In 2018, Warisan, DAP and PKR won 14 parliamentary seats in Sabah and 10 parliamentary seats in Sarawak.”

Liew said if Warisan, DAP and the others can win big on September 26, it means federal snap polls are called, Sabah can contribute 20 seats to PH Plus.

“If it’s 80 plus 20, it will be 100. This does not count the seats that PH Plus can get from Sarawak again.

“Finally, if Parliament is dissolved and the result of the general election is a suspended Parliament (hung Parliament) where both parties will have about 111, the loser is Muhyiddin.”

He added that it is not logical for Muhyiddin to call for an election to win only 111 seats.  

“Only if his political coalition is confident of winning 135 seats will it be worth it for him to call a snap election.

“Otherwise, a surprise GE will probably only benefit Umno. Muhyiddin and Bersatu will be swallowed alive by Umno.” – September 12, 2020.