Barisan, Pakatan seal Sabah deal
He said no negotiations have been held between Barisan and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) on seat distribution or cooperation for the polls to respect Pakatan.
'What has been finalised is Barisan-Pakatan, and we respect Pakatan-GRS. There are no direct negotiations between Barisan and GRS.
'So far, any discussions to avoid three-cornered contests or seat overlaps have only been conducted behind the scenes,' he said.
However, Ahmad Zahid said Barisan anticipated that three-cornered contests would be unavoidable, given the likelihood of participation from other parties and new political entities, Bernama reported.
'Since there are many new parties wanting to contest this time, three-cornered fights will certainly be unavoidable, possibly even up to eight-cornered.
'The decision is theirs to make, reflecting the current political landscape in Sabah.
'Barisan-Pakatan has no overlapping seats,' he said after attending the 16th national-level Civil Defence Student Corps commissioning ceremony, Bernama reported.
Ahmad Zahid was earlier reported as saying that negotiations on cooperation and seat distribution within the Barisan, Pakatan and GRS alliance for the state election were nearly completed.
In SEREMBAN, Barisan deputy chairman Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said the coalition will defend all seats it won in the last Sabah polls.
The coalition will also contest all traditional seats that were previously given to Bersatu, he added.
'In the previous Sabah election, many traditional Barisan seats were given to Bersatu in the spirit of cooperation.
'But we were backstabbed. We don't want this to happen again,' he told reporters after officiating the Rembau Umno wanita, youth and puteri wings meetings.
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