KOTA KINABALU: Choosing the right logo to be used among political allies will be crucial to ensure candidates have better chance of winning the upcoming 16th Sabah state election.

With Sabah having many parties, it is understandable why some seek to fly their own flag, be noticeable and strive to stamp their mark in more than half of the 73 seats up for grabs in the polls.

Among voters, many expressed frustration over the power tussle for the Chief Minister's post between Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal and former Sabah Umno chief Tan Sri Musa Aman, who is the sole Umno incumbent assemblyman.

They desire something fresh in the state leadership - a new party and Chief Minister candidate for them to asses potential alternatives capable of leading the people to greater heights and putting an end to the current power struggle.

Following the dissolution of the Sabah state assembly, parties such as Sabah BN coalition led by Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin; Sabah Parti Bersatu Primbumi Malaysia (Bersatu) led by Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor; Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) led by Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili; and Parti Cinta Sabah (PCS) led by Datuk Seri Anifah Aman were quick to express their intention to contest in over 30 state seats under their respective banners.

This illustrates the obvious scenario of the state opposition party's' efforts to win the election and eventually take over the Shafie-led state government.

After all, under the Sabah Constitution, the leader of a party with most seats becomes the Chief Minister if it wins.

However, despite such strong desire, party leaders had over the past few days toned down their intention, reiterating their willingness to work with like-minded parties to reach a consensus over seat negotiation as well as the use of logos.

But for PBS and PCS leaders, their call for voters to support a Sabah-based party rather than peninsula-based party was clear and solid.

Whether the anti-pro Warisan allies could reach a mutual agreement, local political analysts believe they would be able to but only time will tell where each party's compromise lies.

They also disagreed with the opinion of Sabah BN and Sabah Bersatu wanting to dominate the state election.

"Both (parties) must consider the importance of other political parties. The party leaders have been in politics for decade; thus, it is not impossible for them to eventually be able to deal with such problems successfully," said Dr Romzi Ationg of Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS).

He also said the use of one logo to represent coalition parties as well as partners should be taken into consideration as it would portray the consolidation of political collaboration and give better organisation in terms of boosting victory.

"However, the move is not necessarily the key factor (to victory). The voters require more than that," opined the ethno-politics senior lecturer.

"They must contest in this election with better strategies, attractive offers to the rakyat, and be able to portray themselves as a party or coalition that really focuses on the people."

In the Warisan-Sabah Pakatan Harapan (PH)-United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (Upko) camp, the leaders remained tight-lipped for now over the number of seats each party wishes to contest.

Shafie, however, did say seats held by Warisan or its allies such as Upko, PKR and DAP, must be given back to the incumbents.

Like their opponents, the camp is still negotiating on seats along with Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah), but with a clear mission. That is, to let local-based Warisan lead the state election.

In support of this, Amanah youth wing had suggested that candidates from parties allied to Warisan should contest under the Warisan banner to show unity and support to the local-based party led by Shafie, who is interim Chief Minister.

UMS senior lecturer Dr Lee Kuok Tiung, who specialises in political communication, said it was not impossible for the group to fly under the Warisan logo this time as they had done so in some of the seats during the GE14.

"Cooperation with parties from the peninsula is likely to put pressure on them, especially when Warisan is playing with state sentiments. Hiding behind this local party logo will give them (Warisan-Sabah PH-Upko) an advantage (to win).

"This state election will definitely see a multi-cornered contest not because the Warisan and anti-Pro Warisan allies failed to reach a consensus for overlapping seats they demanded.

"In Sabah, there are too many political parties. Everyone wants to contest," he said, adding the emergence of independent candidates are also expected.

The Election Commission (EC) is expected to announce important dates for the 16th Sabah election after the commission's special meeting on Aug 17, in the state capital.

The EC's meeting coincided with a High Court hearing to decide whether to grant leave for the judicial review application made by 33 state incumbent lawmakers led by Musa, on the decision to dissolve the Sabah state assembly.

https://www.nst.com.my/news/politics/2020/08/615725/sabah-polls-flying-right-flag-key-victory