Sabah PKR information chief Razeef Rakimin ridiculed his Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR) counterpart, Anuar Ghani, over his criticism of Nurul Izzah, saying it was baseless and solely aimed at exploiting MA63.
In a statement, Razeef questioned Anuar’s assertion that Nurul Izzah was undermining MA63 by suggesting the number of seats for PKR to contest.
He said the 13-seat target was within the projection by Sabah PKR, which had been given autonomy when it came to talks on seats.
“Not just PKR, even Pakatan Harapan has given its Sabah leadership autonomy in seat negotiations.
“Sabah PH is in the midst of its final round of talks before opening negotiations with other allies, whether it is Gabungan Rakyat Sabah or Barisan Nasional,” he said.
Yesterday, Nurul Izzah expressed hope that PKR president Anwar Ibrahim would negotiate with PH components and other allied parties to allow PKR to contest a minimum of 13 seats in the upcoming Sabah state election.
She also urged party members from all states to rally behind the coalition and actively campaign in the Sabah polls.
Earlier today, The Borneo Post quoted Anuar as claiming that Nurul Izzah’s statement was a “direct challenge” to Sabah’s political autonomy and undermined the spirit of MA63.
The STAR leader also criticised the mobilising of election machinery from other states to Sabah, claiming it was “intrusive and disrespectful” to Sabahans.
Razeef rubbished this, saying it was normal for a national party like PKR to deploy machinery from all over the country for a state election.
“There is, therefore, no such thing as PKR using Sabah as a ‘political laboratory’, because PKR’s machinery has been tried and tested for 26 years now,” he said.
He said the target of 13 seats was not unrealistic although Sabah PKR currently has only two, since the party had made way for Warisan to contest in several seats during the 2020 state election, when they were still allies.
The Tuaran PKR chief said Sabahans will ultimately decide on the fate of the candidates vying for the 73 seats up for grabs.
“Therefore, STAR has no right to determine whether voters need to support local parties like STAR, which has no clear direction, or a national party with a clear struggle and direction, and which is led by the prime minister,” he said.