SANDAKAN: Barisan Nasional is hoping Sabah will provide at least 15 seats to enable it to form the next Federal Government.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri believes Sabah’s Zone 5 in the east coast would be able to contribute three to four seats, including Libaran.
Speaking at a Majlis Ramah Mesra with people at the Gum-Gum People’s Housing Programme Tuesday evening, he said:
“I am confident not only Suhaimi Nasir will win but also our candidates in Zone 5. As a candidate for the position of 10th Prime Minister, I anticipate support from Sabah, particularly Zone 5.
He said if Sabah doesn’t provide the needed seats, it would probably be impossible to create a government and Pakatan Harapan would have the chance to take power once more.
“If we are unable to form a government, Pakatan Harapan, which is unable to fulfil its manifesto pledges, may rule over us once more.
“We only had a comfortable life under the Malaysian Family’s rule for a year and four months after 22 months of living in misery. Therefore, we have two options: pain or pleasure,” he said.
He said numerous projects were cancelled during the 22 months PH was in power, the economy was poor and the livelihood of rural populations was impacted.
He said if BN wins the 15th general election, it would focus more on development for Sabah and have a clearer plan than PH.
Datuk Suhaimi Nasir, a BN candidate for the P.184 Libaran seat is up against Dr Peter Jr Naitin of PH, Sh. Bokrata Sh. Hassan of Warisan, Jeffri Pudang of Pejuang, Nordin Khani of the PPRS and independent Amdan Saban Tumpong in a six-cornered contest.
Ismail also pledged support for the Malaysia Agreement 1963. Ismail, who is Chairman of the MA63 Special Committee which includes the Sabah Chief Minister and Sarawak Premier, said each month the committee would compile a list of issues that still need to be resolved.
“Little by little, we fix it, including the Petronas and other companies’ payment for oil revenue issue,” he said.
He said Sabah had been consulted over the future plans. One of them is setting up an oil production company so that Sabah would have a stake in the shares of the firm that sells the oil.
On when MA63 would be completed, he said, there is no set deadline.
Also present, Barisan Nasional Sabah Chairman Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin, Barisan Nasional (BN) Candidate P.184 Libaran, Datuk Suhaimi Nasir, incumbent Member of Parliament for Libaran who is also Bersatu Libaran Leader, Datuk Zakaria Mohd Edris, representative from GRS, MCA, MIC and others.
Ismail said that the development focus for Sabah had begun during the 2023 Budget.
Sabah receives one of the highest allocations in Malaysia, totalling RM6.3 billion, for its development budget.
“This excludes others like the price of supplementary food in schools which in Sabah and Sarawak was raised from RM3.50 to RM4.50,” he said.
“There are many more that we have initiated such as increasing allocations to upgrade poor schools and clinics in Sabah and Sarawak.
“There are many more things we have started, such as increasing funding for rehabilitating underfunded hospitals and schools in Sabah and Sarawak.
Additionally, Sabah’s development efforts are concentrated on building rural infrastructure, including as internet connection, and village roads.
“We want to have 100 per cent of this area in Sabah covered by a 4G internet network within two years,” he said.
