Both University of Tasmania’s James Chin and Azmi Hassan of Akademi Nusantara said the party’s central leadership remains the ultimate decision-maker in the matter.

“Everyone knows that Sabah Umno is controlled by the party’s central leadership, so nobody will take this (pronouncement) seriously.

“Zahid can say whatever he wants, but on the ground, everyone knows Barisan Nasional is looking for a deal with Pakatan Harapan and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah,” said Chin.

Azmi agreed, saying BN and PH have already come to a decision at the central level to form an alliance, which the state chapter must honour.

On Saturday, Zahid, who is also BN chairman, said Sabah Umno had been granted autonomy to discuss and decide on electoral cooperation for the upcoming 17th state election.

He said the state chapter was also authorised to discuss a collaboration with other parties, adding that no party will be able to form the next Sabah government on its own.

Last week, the unity government’s secretariat announced that PH and BN had agreed to join forces for the state polls, following a meeting between Zahid and PH chairman Anwar Ibrahim.

It said discussions on the form of cooperation would be handled by the parties’ respective state chapters but “all decisions will be finalised by the top leaderships” at the national level.

Sabah Umno chief Bung Moktar Radin later said the state chapter still retained some autonomy, but that this was limited to decisions on technical and strategic matters like the selection of election candidates.

The analysts also rejected Zahid’s claim that factionalism no longer exists within Sabah Umno.

Chin said there were at least three major factions within Sabah Umno, which Azmi said was “nothing out of the ordinary”.

“This is especially the case with Sabah Umno, where politics tends to centre on individual personalities.

“From what we can see, these factions are led by Bung, his deputy Abdul Rahman Dahlan and treasurer Salleh Said Keruak. There may be other Sabah Umno warlords involved as well,” Azmi said.

Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid from Universiti Sains Malaysia said Zahid was intending by his statement to portray a united front as the party prepares for the upcoming polls, due to be held before year-end.

What other alternative has he (Zahid) got anyway? Can a PH-BN setup beat Gabungan Rakyat Sabah which holds all incumbency advantages at the state level?” he asked.

On Sunday, Zahid attributed losses by Umno and BN in previous elections to the presence of internal disputes within the party and coalition.

He said infighting among leaders only harmed Sabahans and distracted from more important issues, such as solving the state’s long-standing water, electricity and road infrastructure woes.

“There’s no Bung faction, no Rahman faction, no Salleh faction, and no Yakub Khan faction. There is only one Sabah BN team,” Zahid was reported to have said.