KOTA KINABALU: Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin appears to have buried the hatchet with Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor after his earlier outburst at the Sabah Chief Minister.
The Sabah Barisan Nasional chief had previously accused Hajiji, who is Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) chairman, of "declaring war" by breaking their pre-election agreement to support Barisan.
However, when met after the tabling of the 2023 Sabah Budget here on Friday (Nov 25), Bung Moktar said relations between GRS and Barisan, which form the state government, remain intact.
"(The cooperation between GRS and Barisan) is going along fine," he told reporters after attending the tabling of the budget by Hajiji at the Sabah State Legislative Assembly here.
He admitted he got emotional after Hajiji voiced GRS' support for Perikatan Nasional chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to become the next prime minister, but that all was water under the bridge now.
"Politics is like that. Sometimes you have to go through something like that.
"There is no friction between us. There was only a bit of emotion but now, hopefully, everything is okay," said Bung Moktar.
Later, Hajiji also reciprocated what the Sabah Deputy Chief Minister conveyed, saying that relations "seem good".
"What's important is to focus on economic recovery to develop the state and the people," he said.
Hajiji had earlier on Monday (Nov 21) voiced GRS' support for Muhyiddin Yassin as the 10th Prime Minister.
This incurred the wrath of Bung Moktar, who said they had an agreement that GRS would support Barisan after the polls, which Hajiji had broken by supporting Perikatan.
Hajiji then shot back, saying GRS' agreement to support Barisan after GE15 was no longer valid after its defeat in GE15.
He said the agreement was to support a prime minister from Barisan but with the coalition only winning 30 parliamentary seats, it was clearly not in a position to govern the country.
GRS has since changed its stand and expressed support for the unity government led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
