PN’s Sabah hopes dented by CM row, says analysts

State PPBM chief Hajiji Noor, who seeks re-election in Sulaman, has been proposed as a candidate for the chief ministership after the elections.

PETALING JAYA: Perikatan Nasional’s chances of a big victory at the Sabah state assembly elections have been affected by an internal squabble over the choice of candidate to be nominated as chief minister after the elections, says a political analyst.

Political scientist Awang Azman Pawi of Universiti Malaya said PPBM’s declaration of support for state party leader Hajiji Noor had been unexpected and had not been negotiated in advance with other PN partners, especially Umno.

Awang Azman Pawi.

“The nomination day has just taken place but PPBM president Muhyiddin Yassin has already named the candidate to be CM. This caused uneasiness in Umno, down to branch and division levels,” he told FMT.

Awang Azman said he believes support for PPBM has been affected because of the premature announcement.

“It is not politically wise, and will strain the relationship between PPBM and Umno, especially as PPBM is contesting fewer seats compared to Umno. There are many Umno members in most of the seats contested by PPBM.”

Hajiji said he accepted Muhyiddin’s proposal but said the matter was not a priority because an election victory must come first. Barisan Nasional chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has said that the coalition would name its own candidate if it succeeded at the elections, and Umno vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob said discussions would be held among the parties after the elections.

Azmi Hassan.

Another political analyst, Azmi Hassan, said the Sabah elections should have been a showcase of PN cooperation, especially between PPBM and Umno but the opposite had happened.

The reason was that Sabah politics was controlled by local political parties, which made it difficult for PPBM and Umno leaders to reach a compromise.

However, he played down the division caused by the PPBM announcement. “The clash is not expected to damage existing cooperation,” he said. - FMT

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