KUALA LUMPUR: Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the doors for collaboration with any party in the Sabah polls are still open.
However, Zahid, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, said the collaboration between Pakatan Harapan and BN would still be the foundation going into the state election, which must be called by October next year.
"The elections for Sabah must be called by October 2025, there is still time.
"We are not closing the doors to cooperate with any party as stated by the Prime Minister in his role as the head of the unity government. The foundation of this collaboration is between Pakatan Harapan and BN.
"This needs to be strengthened at both the federal and state-levels, and this is what will happen in Sabah as well."
Zahid was speaking to reporters after chairing the Youth Development Cabinet Committee meeting in Parliament today.
On Sunday, Sabah BN said it was prepared to contest independently in the upcoming 17th Sabah election if no cooperation agreement was reached with other parties.
Its chairman Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin explained that Zahid said BN and PH had discussed possible cooperation including a collaboration with Gabungan Rakyat Sabah to face the polls.
He said however, there had been some local party leaders who have suggested that they may also consider running solo.
"If they choose to go solo, Sabah BN and Umno are ready to respond. In fact, I invite any party that plans to run alone in the upcoming state election to be prepared for strong opposition from us," said Bung, who is also Sabah Umno liaison committee chairman.
Sabah BN and Sabah PH today held an unofficial meeting to prepare for the state polls. Both coalitions said they shared aspirations to ensure that the foundations of cooperation would benefit the people and the state.
Both coalitions also agreed to create a channel of communication to streamline joint efforts, including being open to forming relationships with other parties as preparation for the polls.
Meanwhile, on the issue of seat allocation in the Johor polls, Zahid said Dzulkefly Ahmad's statement announcing that Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) planned to contest between 12 and 20 seats was merely a personal opinion.
"As long as the chairman, president or secretary-general of any party has not and does not issue a statement, we will consider (his statement) to be a personal opinion and not the official stand of that party."
Dzulkefly, who is state Amanah deputy chairman said yesterday that the party had identified several targeted seats, including its intent to retain the Simpang Jeram seat in Muar.
He had also said the party was considering the possibility of a three-way contest among PH, BN, and Perikatan Nasional in Johor if the cooperation among coalitions could not be solidified.