Gerakan proposes three constituencies for PN in upcoming Sabah election

SEREMBAN – Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan) has identified three constituencies to be considered by Perikatan Nasional (PN) for the upcoming Sabah state election.

Its president Datuk Dr Dominic Lau said the proposed constituencies included two in Sandakan and another in Kota Kinabalu.

He said the final decision on the matter was expected to be known on Monday after PN’s supreme council meeting to determine the number of seats and candidates to be fielded by each component party.

“For Gerakan, we have listed three seats we wish to contest and the decision is expected to be known tomorrow.

“The political situation in Sabah is constantly changing and we intend to contest in these three constituencies,” he said after officiating the 50th Negeri Sembilan Gerakan Delegates Conference at a hotel here on Sunday.

Lau also believed that the bullying case involving Zara Qairina Mahathir and other issues, including mining licences linked to state representatives, would be among the factors behind the fall of the previous Sabah government.

He said the lack of basic amenities such as water and electricity supply would also contribute to the dissatisfaction among the people towards the current administration.

“We have held dialogues with various organisations and associations. Many are unhappy with the government.

“We also asked students at Universiti Malaysia Sabah what they wanted if PN became the government. Their answer was simple, water. There is no water, no electricity and basic facilities are insufficient. So how can people be satisfied? That’s why we are confident PN can win in the Sabah state election,” he said.

However, he expected no political party to secure more than 28 seats, which would make forming a coalition government inevitable.

“A coalition state government will be formed, but we do not yet know its structure. That is our projection. Nevertheless, we will continue to mobilise our leaders to support Gerakan and PN candidates to ensure victory in this election.

“In Sabah, there are 73 seats. To form the government, a party must secure at least 38 to 40 seats. But I don’t see any political party being able to achieve a simple majority. Therefore, a coalition between parties will be necessary,” he said.

The Election Commission has set the nomination day for Nov 15, early voting on Nov 25 and polling day on Nov 29.

Sabah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor had earlier announced the dissolution of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly on Oct 6.