Pakatan Harapan is confident Warisan has a big chance of winning if the Kimanis parliamentary by-election was to be held, said coalition deputy president Mohamad Sabu.

Mohamad, who is also the Amanah president, said this is because Sabah’s support for Mohd Shafie Apdal, who is chief minister and Warisan president, is so strong, it is not impossible for the candidate to win the parliamentary seat.

“I think (Warisan candidate) will win big because of the last 14th general election, Karim Bujang lost narrowly to Anifah Aman (BN candidate).

“Based on the Harapan winning in Sandakan by-election (DAP candidate won), they (Warisan) are capable of capturing Kimanis parliamentary seat,” he told reporters after opening the Padang Besar Amanah annual meeting in Kangar today.

On Aug 16, the Sabah Election Court declared Anifah’s win in the Kimanis parliamentary seat in the GE14 as null and void and ordered fresh polls for the seat.

Election Court judge Lee Heng Cheong made the ruling after the court found irregularities with regard to the ballot boxes, which had elements of manipulation.

In the three-cornered fight, Anifah won the Kimanis constituency with a 156-vote majority with 11,942 votes against Karim who garnered 11,786 votes and Parti Harapan’s Jaafar Ismail, who received 1,300 votes.

Meanwhile, Mohamad, who is also the defence minister, in his opening speech, said his ministry and the Home Ministry also took a serious view about racial issues and the emergence of ideologies which could cause conflict among the people.

“All these things could lead to non-traditional war as what is happening in Muslim countries that have been devastated because of the war among themselves.

“When political ideologies are played up, and often blaming others while thinking we are always correct, that can reach to a level of blood being spilt, which the government wants to prevent by taking necessary actions,” he explained.

- Bernama