Unrest At Warisan Plus Candidates Reveal Pkr Gets Half What It Expected

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The Warisan, Pakatan Harapan, and Upko alliance today unveiled their candidates for the Sabah election, but as the announcement went on, PKR representatives in the hall grew increasingly restless
A group of PKR representatives was seen leaving the hall at the International Convention Centre in Kota Kinabalu as they engaged in a hushed conversation with Sabah PKR chief Christina Liew
Upon closer inspection of the candidate list, PKR appeared to have received only half the seats it expected
Sabah PKR announced yesterday it would contest 14 seats, but as Warisan president Shafie Apdal announced the candidates today, it turned out that the party was only allocated seven seats
They are Api-Api, Inanam, Tempasuk, Tamparuli, Matunggong, Klias, and Sook
Klias and Sook were conceded by Warisan to PKR while the remaining five seats were contested by PKR in the 2018 general election
In Sabah PKR's announcement yesterday, it also expected Warisan to concede the seats of Kemabong, Membakut, and Petagas to PKR
However, Warisan conceded the Kemabong seat to Upko while retaining Membakut and Petagas
PKR also wanted four of the 13 newly created seats, namely Segama, Limbahau, Sungai Manila, and Pintasan but the seats were instead allocated to Warisan
In exchange for its desired seats, PKR was prepared to concede the seats of Kadaimaian, Kuala Penyu, and Karanaan but that may not happen now as it is upset for not getting its way
Journalists followed Liew out of the hall, but she declined to comment, claiming that she was going to the toilet while other PKR representatives with her insisted "no press"
Liew and the PKR representatives later did return to the hall
But when the announced election candidates were asked to go on stage for a photo, Liew was absent
The seven seats meant that PKR would be contesting one seat less than in the 2018 general election
DAP and Amanah did not appear to have a problem with their allocated seats
Upko president Madius Tangau was reluctant to say whether he was happy with the allocation but stayed on at the event until the end
When asked if he was happy, Madius merely shook his head while Warisan president Shafie Apdal, who stood beside him laughed and pat his back
When pressed, Madius eventually replied "Yes". He then added: "It's not about the number of seats we contest but it's about the number of seats we win"
His party was allocated 12 seats, up from seven in the last general election
DAP and Amanah will be contesting under Warisan's logo while PKR and Upko will be using their own logos
DAP will contest the same seven seats it did in the 2018 general election while Amanah was given one seat. Amanah was not considered in negotiations during the last general election
Warisan will be contesting a total of 54 seats
Today's episode may set PKR on a collision course with Warisan
PKR could choose to spite Warisan by contesting in more seats than the 14 it wanted while Warisan could similarly retaliate
The top echelon of PKR and Warisan will only have two days before nomination day to mitigate the damage. - Mkini

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