00:00A political analyst has claimed that the outcome of Sabah's 17th state election does not depend
00:06on whether Sabah Barisan National UMNO continues its alliance with Pakatan Harapan or contests
00:11independently. OA Sun of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs said this was because
00:18BN, Linchpin UMNO and PH hold few, if any, overlapping seats in Sabah, making direct
00:24electoral clashes unlikely. He said BN and PH have few overlapping seats as the latter
00:31focuses mostly on urban and suburban seats, while UMNO focuses mainly on rural seats, making
00:37little difference whether they team up or not.
00:41Separately, University Malaysia Sabah's Bilchir Bala warned Sabah UMNO that its grassroots support
00:47has weakened considerably since the 2020 state election, and that contesting alone could
00:52be a highly risky strategy. He said going solo could cause Sabah BN to be sidelined in the
00:58post-election negotiations, thus losing all chances of having any influence in the state
01:03administration, noting that it would be a highly risky and unpragmatic move.
01:09BN and PH previously reached a pack for the state election, but GRS also announced an alliance
01:14with PH last month.
01:19Narmatha Raja, FMT.
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