BARISAN Nasional (BN) chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that the coalition’s focus in the upcoming Sabah state election will be on winning seats it can realistically secure.

“What is important is victory. So we are focusing more on the seats that we can win, and that is our objective,” he told reporters after the Rural and Regional Development Ministry’s monthly assembly here today.

Zahid, who is also deputy prime minister, said that while negotiations on seat allocations with Pakatan Harapan (PH) had been finalised, discussions with Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) were still ongoing.

“We respect the cooperation between PH and GRS,” he said.

He said BN’s election machinery had long been mobilised across all 73 constituencies, with focus now shifting to key areas.

“Our position is that we will not use any other symbol during the election; we will continue to use the Barisan Nasional symbol,” he added.

In August, the GRS supreme council endorsed working with PH. GRS secretary-general Masidi Manjun said the GRS-PH partnership had greatly helped stabilise politics in Sabah and enabled the state government to concentrate on development efforts.