KOTA KINABALU: Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) chairman Datuk Hajiji Noor reiterates the coalition's desire to maintain its cooperation with Pakatan Harapan, amid the state chapter's plan to review their current ties before the upcoming election.
Hajiji informed Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the national Pakatan chairman, about GRS's intention to collaborate with the national coalition leading the Unity government.
He shared this during a Christmas luncheon attended by Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (Gagasan Rakyat) members on Saturday (Dec 14).
Meanwhile, the four-party Sabah Pakatan is tentatively set to meet Monday (Nov 16) to reassess its stance with the eight-party GRS coalition, which was established in January 2023.
Hajiji met with Sabah Pakatan leaders on Friday (Dec 13) to urge them to remain with the coalition amidst corruption allegations against some GRS assemblymen regarding mining licences.
At the Christmas gathering, Hajiji emphasized the importance of unity.
"That’s why I formed GRS, bringing together eight parties, big or small, to move forward as one," he said.
"The others, we will see, if their thoughts are right and not misplaced, we will think about why we want to do the right thing. I am the Chief Minister and what I want is unity."
"Enough with our lessons in the past. My mission now is to serve with people, we gather the Presidents of the existing parties and it is not easy to manage this, it is tiring but God willing they have also expressed their commitment to GRS," he said.
Addressing strained relations with Sabah Barisan Nasional led by Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin, Hajiji expressed confidence in GRS's success in the upcoming state election to Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi, the national Barisan chairman.
He stated, "GRS is poised to win next year’s state polls."
Hajiji urged party members to unite and focus on the forthcoming state election.
"The current legislative assembly term ends in October next year. This means we can dissolve the Legislative Assembly before the date or in Oct," he noted.
Sabah's political scenario is complex, with Pakatan and Barisan solidifying ties for the next state election while GRS seeks collaboration with Pakatan without Sabah Barisan.
Hajiji and Bung had a falling out in Jan last year when Bung withdrew Sabah Barisan from the state coalition government.
However, Hajiji survived the coup when Sabah Pakatan backed him, alongside several Sabah Barisan assemblymen who defected to support his government.
Other local opposition parties, Parti Warisan led by Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal and Parti KDM led by Datuk Peter Anthony, have avoided negotiations for a pact with existing coalitions.
