KOTA KINABALU: Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) remains united and resilient under the leadership of Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, and any attempt to destabilise the state government will fail.
GRS information chief Datuk Joniston Bangkuai said GRS is determined to ride through current attempts to destabilise the government amid the purported mineral licensing bribery scandal implicating eight of its assemblymen.
Speaking at a meet-the-people session at Kampung Nadau-Pomorian in Nabalu, about 80km from here, Bangkuai dismissed the likelihood that state polls, due by Sept 2025, would be called anytime soon.
"We will not allow any quarters who are hell-bent on undermining the Sabah government to succeed. They are trying to paint a picture of uncertainty in the state," he said.
"The state government is not only working very hard but is very open and transparent in its administration," he said, referring to the ongoing purported bribery scandal involving several assemblymen.
Noting that the Chief Minister has called on the MACC to investigate the matter with assurance that the state government has nothing to hide is evidence of transparency.
"It appears that some quarters could not fathom seeing a state government led by local parties performing very well," Bangkuai said.
Bangkuai did not rule out the possibility that those involved in the failed attempt to unseat Hajiji in 2023 were behind the bribery allegation.
"There seems to be a concerted effort with a well-planned agenda perpetrated by certain quarters to demonise the Hajiji-led state government in a desperate hope to get the support of the people."
"It is interesting to note that a certain peninsula-based party is at the forefront in calling on the state government to be replaced and for Hajiji to resign as Chief Minister," he said, in apparent reference to Sabah Umno leaders' call for Hajiji to resign.
Describing such calls as misguided, Bangkuai said there was no reason for Hajiji to resign as he has the full support of the GRS-Pakatan Harapan assemblymen.
"But I believe the people of Sabah are wise enough to 'read their game' and would know what to do in the coming state election," he added.
He said the GRS-led state government remains firmly committed to upholding political stability and delivering on its mandate to the people of Sabah.
The GRS-PH Plus government has just tabled a massive RM6.45bil state budget, the biggest ever in Sabah's history, and the focus now is to ensure that the budget's plans are implemented successfully.
