KOTA KINABALU: Upko, the only local party in Sabah Pakatan Harapan, is set to use the national opposition party’s symbol during the 15th General Election.
Upko’s president designate, Datuk Ewon Benedick, said that Upko would use the Pakatan logo that is also being used by the state partners from PKR, DAP and Amanah.
“Upko will be using the Pakatan logo for the election,” he said when contacted.
Benedick said that all four parties in Sabah had agreed to use the common logo.
Without indicating the number of seats Upko was eyeing in the elections, he said Sabah Pakatan would be contesting all 25 seats in Sabah.
But Upko, which is seeing a leadership transition from incumbent president Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau to Benedick, is believed to be eyeing six seats.
Madius is expected to defend his Tuaran seat that he won on a Barisan Nasional ticket in the 2018 general election.
Upko had left Barisan shortly after the general election to back the Warisan and Pakatan state governments under Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal.
The Warisan government was toppled by the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) and Barisan in the September 2020 snap state election.
Upko subsequently joined Pakatan in 2021, becoming the only local party in the coalition while Warisan severed cooperation with the national opposition.
In the 2020 state election, Upko contested with its own symbol for the first time, but only Benedick won the Kadaiman seat.
Madius lost his bid to win the Kiulu state seat, which was among 12 other seats they contested in.
Sabah Pakatan chairman Datuk Christina Liew said that the seat sharing negotiations among the four component parties in Sabah were completed during a final meeting on Thursday.
“We have submitted our list of seats to be contested to the Pakatan leadership in Kuala Lumpur for consideration and approval.
“For now, we have returned to our respective areas to make the necessary preparations for the polls,” she said in a statement yesterday.
