KOTA KINABALU: Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) has kicked Bersatu out of the five-party coalition.
The move came after Sabah Bersatu leaders led by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor quit the party en masse last week.
Coalition deputy chairman Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili (pic), who chaired a supreme council meeting on Dec 9, reaffirmed support for Hajiji who sits as a direct member of GRS after leaving Sabah Bersatu.
He said supreme council members agreed to keep Hajiji as GRS chairman as well during the meeting.
He said they also decided to drop Bersatu from the coalition and join the current unity government for political stability in the country.
Ongkili, who is Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) president, said Bersatu vice president and Sabah chapter chief Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee and his party have nothing to do with the Malaysia Unity Government agreement signed in Putrajaya on Friday (Dec 16).
He said Bersatu had rejected the agreement’s principles and objectives.
On Saturday (Dec 17), Kiandee said that the agreement signed to support the Pakatan Harapan-led Federal Government was invalid as Hajiji was no longer a Bersatu member and that his chairmanship in GRS had to be reviewed.
He also said that as a member of GRS, Bersatu was never involved in any meeting to form the Federal Government.
GRS previously consisted of Bersatu, PBS, Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (Sabah STAR), Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) and Usno.
