KINABATANGAN: Sabah Barisan Nasional (BN) has expressed its readiness to reduce the number of parliamentary seats it will contest in the 15th General Election (GE15) to allow other parties within the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) coalition to contest for more seats.
Sabah BN chairman Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin said it was to ensure peopleâs support and victory to the current government.
âDuring the GE14, BN (Sabah) allocated 14 seats for UMNO to contest, but (now) we are ready to negotiate. We want to win because it is not about how many seats will be contested but it is about how many seats we will win,â he said adding that he estimated that UMNO would be contesting for between 10 and 12 seats in the GE15.
Bung Moktar, who is also Sabah UMNO Liaison Committee chairman and Kinabatangan member of parliament said this to reporters after officiating the Kinabatangan division UMNO delegates meeting here.
He said the negotiation process would be continued and BN would defend the GRS coalition formed with Perikatan Nasional and Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS).
BN would also ensure victory to candidates fielded by the coalition in the GE15, he said.
Meanwhile, Bung Moktar said UMNO branches that are inactive and that do not have sufficient membership would be dissolved.
âActive branches are important in elections because we need voters. For example, the branch chief has to get members, and the main goal is to turn the members into voters,â he said. -Bernama
