While Sabah PH was open to an alliance, statements issued by Warisan leaders clearly showed they rejected the idea, said Sabah DAP secretary Phoong Jin Zhe, quoted in an Utusan Malaysia report.

“They (Warisan) are constantly talking about strengthening their own party. So it seems like they want to distance themselves from PH,” he was quoted as saying.

Phoong, who is Luyang assemblyman, said however, the door would remain open to Warisan if the latter had a change of heart.

Upko vice-president Ewon Benedick held similar views, citing Warisan’s broadsides of the opposition coalition’s memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Ismail Sabri Yaakob government.

“It is getting more difficult to form an alliance because of such statements and I am worried as Warisan needs support from Upko, PKR and DAP.”

He said Warisan would find it difficult to defend some of its seats. “Their statements could see them lose some constituencies won in the last general election.”

Warisan has been critical of the MoU signed with Ismail last year.

In September, Warisan president Shafie Apdal said such an agreement was not necessary for reforms to be carried out. Two months ago, the party’s vice-president Junz Wong accused PH of entering into the MoU just to obtain allocations for constituencies.

PH is currently pushing for the “big-tent” approach, which is aimed at getting all opposition parties under a single bloc to face Barisan Nasional in the next general election (GE15).