KOTA KINABALU: Native-based Parti KDM is awaiting a response to its application to become a component of Pakatan Harapan.
Its information chief Dr Oswald Aisat Igau said the party, which is headed by Datuk Peter Anthony, had submitted a letter through the Prime Minister’s office sometime last October.
“We did apply but until now we still have not received any answer yet,” he said when contacted on Saturday (Jan 6).
“We wrote in formally after a suggestion by (Prime Minister) Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (to join Pakatan).
“I think they (Pakatan) have yet to have their meeting (over the application) but we have conveyed our intention to join Pakatan,” he added.
Asked about KDM’s chances to become a Pakatan component, Oswald said they believed they had “high chances” as Anwar had “invited” them to do so.
“But that is from our side, we don’t know about the other side,” he noted.
Upko led by Datuk Ewon Benedick, who is Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister, is the only Sabah-based party in the four-party Pakatan coalition.
According to talk in political circles, KDM was being sought by Pakatan to join the coalition while Barisan Nasional and Parti Warisan were also considering to forge alliances with the native-based interior party ahead of the Sabah elections.
Oswald had said last December that KDM was keeping its options open on potential partners for the next state election.
He said the party’s supreme council at its previous meeting decided not to make any commitment on this matter for the Sabah polls which was speculated to be called earlier than scheduled in September 2025.
Asked why he issued such a statement when KDM had actually submitted its application to Pakatan, Oswald said it was because they had not heard any response on it then.
At the same time, he claimed, Warisan and Sabah Barisan have made approaches on KDM separately to form a pact in the coming elections.
KDM has remained "hot and cold" in relations with the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS)-led state government, helmed by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, since a failed political coup on Jan 5 last year.
Barisan, led by Sabah Umno chief Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin, and Warisan, headed by Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, together with KDM, had made a bid to topple Hajiji’s government.
Hajiji, however, staved off the attempt and managed to keep his government in place with the support of Sabah Pakatan representatives and Sabah Barisan renegade assemblymen.
