Sabah Umno To Have Final Say On State Election Pacts Says Suhaimi

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 The Sabah Umno information chief says the state chapter has the autonomy to decide on such matters.
Sabah Umno information chief Suhaimi Nasir said the central leadership takes an advisory role regarding issues related to the state chapter.KUALA LUMPUR: Sabah Umno says no one, including the party’s central leadership, will have any influence on decisions regarding electoral pacts for the coming state election
Sabah Umno information chief Suhaimi Nasir said the state chapters of the party and Barisan Nasional (BN) had the autonomy to decide who to work with.
“There will be no objection by the central leadership to the decisions made by Sabah Umno. Our autonomy determines everything,” he said in an interview with select media outlets on Wednesday.
Suhaimi said Sabah Umno and the central leadership had recently discussed potential alliances for the state polls.
“But we will have the final say.”
He added that the central leadership took an advisory role in terms of issues related to Sabah Umno.
He was commenting on calls for the BN-Pakatan Harapan (PH) alliance, which forms the unity government, to be emulated in Sabah.
The central leadership had told Sabah Umno that the BN-PH collaboration was key to winning, he said.
“They did not want a situation where BN chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is campaigning in one corner, while his PH counterpart, Anwar Ibrahim, is campaigning against them.”
Last night, Suhaimi said Sabah Umno had proposed a memorandum of understanding between BN and PH, as well as any political party interested in working together ahead of the state election.
He said such an arrangement was crucial to prevent a repeat of party-hopping and double crossing, which could destabilise the future state government, Berita Harian reported.
The term of the current state assembly expires on Nov 11. An election must be held within 60 days of its dissolution.
There has been talk that the election may be held in July or August. - FMT

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