PBS is ready for state election - Ongkili

Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) is ready for a state election anytime soon and confident to wrest the six seats won by the opposition in the 13th General Election, said its acting President Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili.

He said the party was now well prepared and ready to win all seats that would be contested by its candidates.

"We have been given the mandate to contest in 13 state legislative assembly seats and won seven in the last general election. We are confident to wrest the six seats based on our preparations and studies.

"If the state election is to be held early, we will not have any problem to win back the six seats, namely Inanam, Matunggung, Api-Api, Tamparuli, Kadamaian and Sri Tanjung," he told reporters after the 'Back To School' Programme organised by Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) at SK Gana near here today.

Maximus, who is also Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister, was commenting on a newspaper report today that Sabah would hold the state election as early as April this year.

On the additional 13 new state seats, he said the party had identified several constituencies that could be won by Barisan Nasional (BN) should the new seats were included in the upcoming general election and the candidates come from PBS.

"The matter (seat allocation) will be decided by the BN top leadership. Nevertheless, we're ready to do our part to ensure that BN will win in constituencies that had been allocated to us (PBS)," he said.

Earlier, Maximus handed over school assistance to 282 students of the school.

He said the aid was part of TNB's corporate social responsibility programme to ease the burden of parents from the low income bracket. -- Bernama