He said members of a special committee conducting the negotiations would try to work with GRS as much as possible to avoid seat clashes. “It is still ongoing and will be resolved when the time comes,” he said.

“We want to see the support from the people,” he said. “We want to find out BN’s strength on the ground first. To negotiate we must have a position of strength, if not, no one will want to negotiate with us.”

GRS chairman Hajiji Noor previously stated that Umno and BN had agreed in principle to work with GRS at the elections. He said that he had already spoken to Sabah Umno leaders about the matter and he had received positive feedback.

Bung, who is deputy chief minister and head of Sabah Umno, said: “We will negotiate as best we can because we want to achieve a win-win situation, which means that not one person wins but a joint victory.”

He said Umno and Sabah BN are preparing to face the possibility of the Sabah state assembly being dissolved at the same time as the Parliament, even though the current assembly’s term ends only in 2025.