GRS-Barisan ties in Sabah put under pressure

KOTA KINABALU: The ruling pact between Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) and Barisan Nasional in the state here is set to be tested as coalitions scramble towards the formation of a Federal Government.

GRS, which is aligned to Perikatan Nasional at the national level, may end up being in the Opposition with Barisan at the state level.

At the national level, both Perikatan and Barisan are seen to be working against each other as they have aligned themselves to different parties in hopes of forging a coalition to form a new federal government.

Following the conclusion of the 15th General Election (GE15) last Saturday, GRS chairman and Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor of Bersatu and Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin of Barisan have been able to keep the state coalition intact.

In the polls, Hajiji and Bung had managed to cut a seat-sharing deal for the 25 parliamentary seats in Sabah despite pressure from their “national bosses” to go for a free-for-all.

Eventually, the GRS-Barisan team clinched a total of 13 seats with Barisan winning seven and GRS picking up six.

But with the state partners backing their respective national parties, this could put a strain on the Hajiji-led state government.

He has given GRS’ unconditional support for Perikatan’s Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to be the next prime minister while Bung said that Sabah Barisan would abide by the decision of its party leadership.

The different stand taken by the two leaders is expected to strain the cooperation within the state coalition government.

Their ties had begun when they took over from the Warisan Plus government, led by Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, after the Sabah snap election in September 2020.

Political analyst Toni Paridi Bagang said the two sides could end up in a tight spot if political realignments take shape up at the federal level.

“There will be a tough situation if both are unable to sustain the cooperation,” said Bagang, a political science lecturer.

Currently, GRS has 30 assemblymen in the 79-seat Sabah assembly while Sabah Barisan has 17, giving the two sides a collective majority of 47 seats.

The coalition government currently has six “friendly” assemblymen from PAS, Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat, Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah and two Independents.

On the Opposition front, Warisan has 19 assemblymen while Sabah Pakatan Harapan has seven.