JITRA, Jan 16 — The strong combination and close ties with Pakatan Harapan (PH) including Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) itself, gives Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) an advantage in dealing with the federal government.

As such, Bersatu deputy president Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir said that if Warisan is given the mandate by the people in the Kimanis by-election on January 18, it would benefit the people of Sabah, especially the people in the parliamentary constituency.

"I believe Warisan will win. To win big or otherwise, it is up to the people. But based on my two visits to meet the people there, they appeared friendly with PH and Warisan.

‘’That is a good sign for us to continue to fight for the good of the people there,” he told reporters after launching the Kedah Transit House here today.

He was commenting on the results of a study conducted by the Ilham Centre think tank today, which predicted that Warisan would win comfortably in the Kimanis by-election, thus ending the status of the parliamentary constituency as a Barisan Nasional (BN) stronghold.

According to the study, Warisan candidate Datuk Karim Bujang, who served for five terms as the Bongawan State Assemblyman, has a 57 per cent advantage over BN candidate Datuk Mohamad Alamin.

Mukhriz said the cooperation between Umno and PAS or National Consensus (Muafakat Nasional) was also seen as not suitable for the communities in Sabah as issues in the state were very different from those in the peninsula.

"In Sabah the situation is not the same... people there are also more united compared to the National Consensus,” he said. — Bernama