KOTA KINABALU: Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah (Harapan Rakyat) will continue to focus on Sabah’s east coast at the moment, with no immediate plans to expand to other areas.
President Tan Sri Liew Yun Fah said as part of their short-term plan and strategic planning to empower the Tawau-based party, they will activate two other divisions in Kalabakan and Silam.
"We heard many requests from political peers to expand and spread our wings to other districts in Sabah.
"However for the time being, Harapan Rakyat only wants to focus on the east coast.
"Only after strengthening here will we consider the possibility of expanding (the party) in other areas, in the future," he said during the party’s annual delegates conference on Sunday (July 17) in Tawau.
He said in line with this, he urged the party machinery to continue reaching out to the grassroots and adding new members in these divisions.
At the same time, Liew also reaffirmed the party’s support towards the state government led by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
Harapan Rakyat which have already applied to join Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) coalition, said they decided on this based on the current political scenario in Sabah where the state administration was formed from a pact between local parties and national ones namely Barisan Nasional.
"The state government has announced being open to hear from local parties who wished to cooperate towards the Sabah Maju Jaya halatuju agenda.
"So this is a new leaf for Harapan Rakyat and being able to join the GRS bloc will strengthen our party while contributing towards the state especially with more access to political cooperation," he said, where the application was still being reviewed.
Meanwhile, Kukusan assemblyman Rina Jainal was officially endorsed as the party’s deputy president during the conference, a position which she had already announced before.
Rina, who left Parti Warisan Sabah on June 5 to join Harapan Rakyat, said more positive feedback was received from the people in her constituency since she has been with the new party for more than a month.
"Villagers who felt discouraged by my actions previously, now started to understand and see my reasoning of wanting to be able to serve the people and find solutions to problems," she added.
