KOTA KINABALU: Seat allocation among coalition parties must be distributed with a fresher outlook in the Sabah elections, says Upko.

       Upko president Datuk Ewon Benedick said this is to prevent any party from “staking claims” on seats they contested in or held before, and to ensure a fairer distribution in the coming elections.

       “As all parties will start to request seats that they wish to contest, it is best that discussions are held first with a newer and fresher approach to it,” he said.

       Upko is always ready to discuss and find common ground on all the seat allocation matters, said the Penampang MP and Kadamaian assemblyman.

       “What is important is for new parties and new coalitions to not claim seats that were previously held by certain politicians who left their old parties to join them in a new platform,” said Benedick.

       He said it does not mean that if an assemblyman leaves his old party to join a new one, he can automatically stand again in that seat, just because he held it before despite having come from another party.

       He said this in a statement after officiating the Sipitang and Labuan Zone Upko convention in Sipitang on Saturday (Feb 3).

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       Benedick said with many changes in cooperations among parties and politicians, the scenario is different from where it was since the 2020 state elections.

       He said allies and political foes have shifted, and that is why a new approach on seat allocations and arrangement must be formulated.

       “I also do not agree if anyone says that he or she should stand in a particular seat just because they won the last round, despite having left their old party and joining another,” he said.