KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Perikatan has launched its return to the state political scene with the slogan "Kasi Bagus Sabah" or "Make Sabah Better" as it prepares for the upcoming state election.
"We are ready," said Bersatu deputy president Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin after launching the party's first tour in the Sepanggar constituency on Wednesday night (Jan 15).
Hamzah said the party divisions have been reorganised after their leaders, led by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, left to form a local party under Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) and allied with Pakatan Harapan after the November 2022 general election.
"This is our first gathering. We are showing that Bersatu is alive in Sabah with strong support from our members. Today it is proven that we can rally our members and have supporters who have become members," he added.
Many, including GRS leaders, claimed Bersatu was dead in Sabah following the Hajiji-led exodus.
"We are now moving on the ground," he said, adding that Sabah Bersatu chairman Datuk Seri Ronald Kiandee will lead Bersatu under Perikatan Nasional in the election due this year.
He said the number of seats they will contest will be decided in due course but did not rule out contesting the 18 seats Bersatu contested in the 2020 Sabah snap election, in which they won 11 seats.
He said that Perikatan was resourceful in 2020, winning the state government in a short period, and it is not impossible for them to make inroads in Sabah quickly.
On working with other partners in Sabah, he said Kiandee was having informal discussions with some parties.
In his speech, he said GRS leaders had failed to address the basic needs of the people and focused on enriching themselves, referring to videos implicating some assemblymen in corruption.
“Who is struggling? The people. Who is benefiting? They (GRS) are,” Hamzah said, adding that people's needs were totally ignored, even ensuring basic amenities like water.
“It’s time to stop this. The people must rise and prove that the power belongs to them. Enough is enough. The people will decide who should lead Sabah,” he said.
Kiandee, in his speech, said GRS leaders advocated for local parties for Sabah, but most of them were once in Umno and Bersatu.
"Their slogan is against national parties. But they have no content in their performance in government. People are suffering and have seen no real development," he said, referring to Sabah's water crisis among others.
