Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) is expected to contest between 10 and 12 seats in the upcoming 17th Sabah State Election (PRN17) on November 29, following ongoing discussions with Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) and Barisan Nasional (BN).
Sabah PKR chairman Datuk Mustapha Sakmud said so far, four seats on the east coast and five on the west coast and interior regions have been identified, with a few others still under negotiation.
The east coast seats are Gum-Gum, Karamunting, Segama, and Merotai, while those on the west coast include Inanam, Petagas, Api-Api, Sindumin, and Melalap.
“These are PKR’s main target constituencies as outlined in our Jelajah Harapan Urang Sabah program, which began on the east coast last weekend,” Mustapha told reporters after the program in Petagas today.
He added that after visiting Gum-Gum, Karamunting, Segama, and Merotai, the tour continued in Inanam and Petagas, and will next head to Sindumin, Melalap, and Api-Api.
A PKR Central Leadership Council (MPP) and Political Bureau meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, will be held in Kota Kinabalu on November 9 to finalize the party’s seat allocations and candidate announcements.
“The president will officially announce the constituencies we will contest and the candidates representing PKR. This tour is also to boost our election machinery’s spirit ahead of PRN17,” Mustapha said.
On the Petagas seat, Mustapha, who is also Deputy Higher Education Minister, said PKR is negotiating with GRS to contest the constituency due to the strong showing by Awang Husaini Sahari, the PKR candidate who narrowly lost by only 124 votes in the 2022 general election (GE15).
Petagas was previously won by Warisan in the 2020 state election (PRN16), but its assemblyman, Datuk Awang Ahmad Sah—Awang Husaini’s brother—later joined Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (Gagasan Rakyat) under GRS.
“Petagas is unique; it’s not originally a Gagasan Rakyat seat, as it was won by Warisan in 2020. Such non-incumbent seats are open for negotiation,” Mustapha said.
He confirmed that Awang Husaini, a former Putatan MP, has been nominated by Sabah PKR to contest the Petagas state seat under the Pakatan Harapan (PH) banner in PRN17.
