KOTA KINABALU: The Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS)-Barisan Nasional state government is on precarious ground.
The question of whether the state Barisan, led by Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin, will continue to lend its support to Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, is on the minds of Sabah political circles.
Political talk in the state capital is that there is a possibility that Barisan might now realign themselves with their new national partners, Parti Warisan and Pakatan Harapan.
On Wednesday, Barisan Nasional chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the King had decreed for Barisan MPs to be part of a unity government.
The three parties – Barisan, Warisan and Pakatan – can command a simple majority of 43 seats in the 79-member Sabah Assembly if Bung decides to pull the coalition’s support from the GRS government.
Bung has not been happy with Hajiji who, immediately after the general election, declared support for Perikatan Nasional chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to be prime minister.
Hajiji’s party, Bersatu, is in both GRS and Perikatan.
Muhyiddin is Bersatu president and Perikatan chairman.
Bung claimed that the act was “a declaration of war”, accusing Hajiji of failing to keep a pre-election pact to support Barisan’s choice of prime minister.
Hajiji insisted that no breach was committed as Barisan had lost the election and, as such, they were not in the running for the prime minister post.
Ironically, GRS and its partners had supported Muhyiddin to be prime minister, but hours before Anwar’s swearing-in yesterday, the parties took a stand to support the unity government.
Many foresee a new political realignment in Sabah that will take place either immediately or within the next few weeks.
Sabah has yet to adopt the anti-hopping law.
Parti Cinta Sabah deputy president Datuk James Ligunjang agreed that political realignments could be on the cards but felt that GRS should consider a “unity” government similar to the Federal Government.
“They should invite Upko and Warisan to be part of this new unity state government,” he said.
