Harapan Rakyat stirs political surprises in Sabah

KOTA KINABALU: Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah (Harapan Rakyat) is seeking admission into the ruling Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) coalition, says party president Tan Sri Liew Yun Fah.

He however was coy about the possibility of his party's application being accepted, only saying that he is leaving the decision to the GRS leadership.

"We can only pray. What’s important for me now is not that we are accepted into GRS, but whether elected representatives who join us can perform," he said when contacted on Monday (June 13).

Liew said that his party was fully behind GRS’ concept of "Sabah for Sabah", adding they submitted their application to join the five-party coalition about a month ago.

The sudden emergence of Harapan Rakyat took many in Sabah by surprise as the late Datuk Seri Lajim Ukin - who led the party previously - had announced that they had unanimously decided to dissolve the party during a special delegates meeting on April 5, 2019.

The 64,000 Harapan Rakyat members joined Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) en-bloc when it spread its wings to Sabah while Pakatan Harapan was still the federal government.

In the 14th General Elections in 2018, Harapan Rakyat failed to win any seats in Sabah with Lajim himself losing his Klias state seat and his bid for the Beaufort parliamentary seat. Lajim passed away from Covid-19 complications in 2021.

However, when asked about this matter, Liew explained that he was made to understand the party was not actually dissolved, adding it was only a proposal for dissolution.

"So, we revived the party and met all the requirements set by the Registrar of Societies (ROS) and that our application was also later approved by the Home Ministry," he said.

He added he officially took over the party before the Sept 26, 2020 Sabah snap polls.

Asked about how his party - which shot to prominence after Parti Warisan's Kukusan assemblyman Rina Jainal joined it on June 5 - was dealing with the sudden popularity, Liew said they were just taking everything in their stride.

Liew first emerged in Sabah politics in the early 2000s when he joined Barisan Nasional’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and won the Merotai state seat. He was then appointed as the state youth and sports minister.

As the LDP vice-president, he was embroiled in a leadership struggle that saw him quit the party to join Gerakan where he was also named as a vice-president.