Other oppositions need not be “caught by surprise” over DAP Sabah’s claim to certain seats in the upcoming general election. Instead of feeling uneasy, seat negotiations should be expedited among opposition parties, as the general elections is not too far from now.
I clarified to Warisan Youth Chief Dato Mohd Aziz Jamman who was at a Hari Raya open house of Warisan’s President Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal in Semporna, on the news report claiming that DAP wanted to field candidates in the Kota Kinabalu, Penampang, Putatan and Sepanggar parliamentary as well as the Darau and Tanjung Aru state seats are not accurate.
Among the English newspapers, only Daily Express has sent the reporter to cover my press conference in Kota Kinabalu on 22nd June. One should refer to the news as reported by daily, http://dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=118489.
I deny that DAP is eyeing at Penampang. All seats won by the opposition should be defended by the respective party that won those seats.
That’s the number one rule in the seat negotiations and must be honored. Any speculations that DAP is trying to grab the Penampang parliamentary seat that was won by PKR is baseless.
Kota Kinabalu has been a DAP seat for some time and in the last election we have also contested in Putatan and Sepangar. So before any latest seat negotiation is decided, we would like to announce that we would still play an active role in these two parliamentary seats besides Kota Kinabalu.
Meanwhile, I concur with Aziz’s statement that it was crucial for opposition parties to avoid multi-cornered fights. However, as Aziz has pointed out correctly, “the negotiations on seats has not even started” between Warisan and DAP.
I know the time would come for the opposition leaders to work out the seat allocation, but we would like to see the process expedited.
Just before Hari Raya, DAP Sabah Chairman Stephen Wong has openly said that DAP Sabah hoped to finalize the Pakatan Harapan Sabah seat negotiations by end of July, and DAP Sabah had identified 20 state seats and 8 parliamentary seats it wants to contest in.
Time and tide waits for no man. We need to move our election machinery forward.