KOTA KINABALU: Pakatan Harapan (PH) will field 23 candidates in the 17th Sabah State Election, said its chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Among its component parties, DAP has announced that it will contest eight seats, while Amanah will field a sole candidate in Sulabayan.
Earlier, PKR chief Datuk Mustapha Sakmud said the party would contest in 10 or more seats.
As of now, it remains uncertain whether another component, the United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (Upko) led by Datuk Ewon Benedick, will contest together with PH.
Anwar said PKR bears the responsibility of defending the people’s future.
“Everyone has their weaknesses, but we are charting new ways to build a new Sabah that is truly independent.
“We will use our resources to stop mismanagement, abuse of power, and corruption,” he said before announcing PKR‘s candidates at the Sabah International Convention Centre.
On the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), Anwar, who is also the prime minister, said progress on the matter did not happen overnight or only under the current government.
Nonetheless, he said discussions on constitutional rights for both Sabah and Sarawak had begun under his Madani administration.
The meeting, which Anwar chaired, was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof from Sarawak, Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, and Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg.
He added that the federal government had doubled the special allocations for both states.
Anwar said there was still room for discussion on granting Sabah its entitlement to 40 per cent of the revenue collected by the federal government from the state.
Also present were PKR deputy president Nurul Izzah Anwar and Sabah PKR chief Datuk Mustapha Sakmud.
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