SHANGHAI: Umno and Sabah Barisan Nasional (BN) have agreed in principle to cooperate with Pakatan Harapan (PH) in the upcoming state election.
BN chairman and Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that the coalition, alongside its lynchpin, Umno, also welcomes any parties wishing to collaborate with them.
He said the decision to form a cooperation between Sabah BN and PH was a mutual decision between central and Sabah Umno, aimed at maintaining the unity government in Putrajaya and extending it to Sabah.
"However, other parties are still welcome to cooperate with us.
"We hope that no party in Sabah will claim that this collaboration is a 'Malaya party' or a national-level party that does not need to come to Sabah.
"We are a democratic country, so there are no local or Peninsular-based parties.
"Therefore, there should be no statements that offend anyone, even if the party aims to become the next chief minister again," said the deputy prime minister at a press conference with Malaysian journalists on the last day of his visit to China.
Asked whether the approach taken for the Sabah state elections would serve as a model for collaboration between BN and other parties in the 16th general election (GE16), Zahid said the cooperation would be limited to Sabah for now.
"We are taking steps to address the issues related to the Sabah state election first, and if this template and framework prove successful, we will certainly study its implementation for GE16.
"However, the synergy between BN and PH 2.0 has already proven to be strong, including support from our partners in GPS, GRS and other parties, including independent members of parliament.
"We will see how it goes later.
"The important thing is that political stability in Malaysia continues to be maintained," he said.
Previously, Sabah Umno chairman Datuk Seri Bung Mokhtar Radin said he would hold discussions with the Sabah BN committee to refine the cooperation with PH for the upcoming state election.
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