Amanah keen to contest in the next Sabah election

KOTA KINABALU: Amanah is hoping to contest in the next Sabah election, says its president Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu.

Since it is part of Pakatan Harapan, he said the party stood a chance to contest for seats like other component parties in the coalition.

“Of course, we hope Amanah can contest as well but that depends on negotiations between the parties in the unity government,” said Mohamad, who is also the Agriculture and Food Security Minister, after launching the Sabah International Food Expo 2024 here yesterday.

The state government is currently helmed by Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (Grs)-pakatan. Its term will end in September 2025.

Amanah had contested in only one seat in the previous Sabah election in 2020 when it used the Parti Warisan logo, as part of the Warisan Plus loose coalition at the time.

With PKR, DAP and Upko seen as the more dominant Sabah Pakatan parties, it remains to be seen whether Amanah will be considered for any seat by the Pakatan leadership for the next state polls.

GRS has seven component parties led by anchor party Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah.

All of them will be jostling for the 73 state seats available.

Asked whether Amanah was looking at contesting any of the six parliamentary seats held by Bersatu if they were declared vacant, Mohamad said it was too early to comment.

“We will cross the bridge when the time comes,” he said.

Bersatu held an extraordinary general meeting on March 2 in which it approved an amendment to its party constitution which would lead to the membership termination of elected representatives who pledged support for others in contravention of the party’s stand.

The six Bersatu MPS who have expressed support for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim are Datuk Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal (Bukit Gantang), Mohd Azizi Abu Naim (Gua Musang), Datuk Zulkafperi Hanapi (Tanjong Karang), Zahari Kechik (Jeli), Datuk Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid (Kuala Kangsar) and Datuk Suhaili Abdul Rahman (Labuan).