Incumbency approach can prevent PH-BN-GRS clashes in Sabah polls - Analyst

SHAH ALAM – A three-cornered fight between Pakatan Harapan (PH), Barisan Nasional (BN) and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) in the upcoming Sabah state election can be avoided by adopting a formula or mechanism that gives priority to the incumbent party to contest.

Political analyst from Universiti Malaysia Sabah Associate Professor Dr Romzi Ationg said this was one of the options all three coalitions could consider if they were serious about forming the next state government after the state election.

“So far, we don’t have clear information about the strategies of the three coalitions. There is a chance that clashes between them might still happen.

“However, I believe the incumbency method or giving priority to the current seat holders is a suitable approach to avoid these three-cornered contests,” he told Sinar.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said PH would work to ensure there would be no three-way clashes with BN and GRS in the upcoming state polls.

Anwar, who is also PH chairman and PKR president said efforts were currently underway to reach an agreement to prevent overlapping contests between the three coalitions.

Meanwhile, when asked about the readiness of the three coalitions to pull out from contesting certain seats if negotiations failed and overlaps occur, Romzi predicted that it would be difficult for any party to back down.

This, he said was because each party aimed to retain or gain as many seats as possible based on their own strategies.

“I don’t think any party is fully ready to compromise and withdraw. We’ve seen situations before where parties fielded independent candidates in areas where negotiations failed. It’s not impossible for that to happen again,” he said.

Commenting on the political cooperation between PH, BN and GRS in Sabah possibly causing dissatisfaction among grassroots members who may view it as a mere ‘power pact’, Romzi did not dismiss that possibility.

He added that the people wanted leaders who prioritised public interest, not those who were only chasing political power.

“The rakyat are becoming more politically aware and surely politicians are aware of this too,” he said.