Speaking at the end of the local opposition coalition’s convention here, Lajim said more than 90% of the seats had been distributed among the Gabungan Sabah parties.
“There are three to four seats that have yet to be distributed because of overlapping claims by component parties.
“For one, my party, PHRS, has been allocated 29 state and 14 parliament seats,” he told FMT.
The former Sabah deputy chief minister also repeated Gabungan’s invitation to Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan), saying the new opposition party was untested material.
“Maybe Warisan refuses to negotiate seats with us because it thinks it is a big party, but then it hasn’t been tested,” the Klias assemblyman said.
“I have been tested and have won as an opposition party.
Lajim said Warisan should join Gabungan as support for the party, led by former federal minister and Umno vice-president Shafie Apdal, was superficial.
“Warisan’s roadshows are attended by big crowds but the crowds actually come from other areas,” he said.
“If they came to an area like Tenom, only Tenom people would come, so there would only be a small crowd there.
“We’re different because those who come to our events are all locals.
“We are still open to Warisan but not to parties which have a connection with Pakatan Harapan (PH) because from the outset, they’re under the control of Malaya.”
On PH, Lajim said he was confident that Sabahans could see for themselves the coalition’s lack of sincerity towards Sabah.
“It’s up to the people whether to choose PH or us. It’s up to them whether they choose the Malaya or Borneo agenda, but we’re confident Sabahans will choose a truly Sabah party.
“All that PH has said about getting Sabah’s rights back under the Malaysia Agreement (MA63) is nothing but an empty promise.”
Shafie formed Warisan after he left Umno following his removal from his federal cabinet post for what was reported to have been his criticism of Prime Minister Najib Razak’s handling of the 1MDB issue.
Warisan has been accused of being the proxy of PH component PPBM, led by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, but Shafie has denied this.
Lajim, who was elected to Parliament in the 2008 election, left BN in 2012. In 2016, he joined PKR, another PH component, before forming his own party, PHRS.
PHRS is a component of Gabungan, along with Sabah Progressive Party, Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku and Parti Perpaduan Rakyat Sabah.