SABAH  POLLS | Negotiations between Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) parties to sort out disputes for 17 seats are still ongoing, said Bersatu supreme council member Azmin Ali.

"I believe that the wisdom of leaders in Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (Star) and Parti Bersatu Sabah's (PBS) will lead to a resolution in the (GRS) family spirit.

"This is because the hopes and aspirations of GRS members and associates are to establish a new government in Sabah that is in line with the federal government.

"This will bring a lot of benefit to Sabah. That is our focus, and I'm sure we see conducive and positive developments soon," said Azmin.

To achieve this, Azmin said GRS focus was to ensure only one of its candidates would be fielded for the 17 seats, in order to take on the Warisan Plus candidate.

Azmin said this when asked to comment on PBS' decision to not withdraw from the election for any of its candidates while Perikatan Nasional secretary-general Hamzah Zainuddin hopes to hammer out a deal by tomorrow.

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Under Section 9 of the Elections (Conduct of Elections) Regulations 1981, a candidate can withdraw by 10am on nomination day.

Therefore, the ongoing negotiations were designed to compel some of the GRS candidates to concede by publicly endorsing another GRS candidate from a different party.

Azmin spoke to reporters after a campaign event in Keningau for GRS-PN-Star candidates for Bingkor and Tambunan. PBS is fielding candidates for both seats, which is currently held by Star.

Star president Jeffrey Kitingan, said Azmin, was respected by PBS and other GRS parties. Therefore he was confident that the former would be able to come to a peaceful resolution.

Kitingan will be defending the Tambunan seat against five candidates, including popular Dusun singer Jimmy Palikat.

Over at Bingkor, Robert Tawik will be defending the Bingkor seat against five candidates.

Follow Malaysiakini's coverage of the Sabah state election here.