KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Pakatan Harapan forged a coalition with the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) state government in the interest of political unity and stability for the state, says Sabah PKR information chief Razeef Rakimin.
"We formed a coalition with GRS as we are more interested in jointly developing the state than taking steps that disrupt political stability and hamper economic recovery efforts post-Covid-19," he said.
Razeef said that Warisan had no right to "point fingers" at Sabah Pakatan for supporting the GRS state government as it was Warisan and Sabah Barisan Nasional that attempted to overthrow the Sabah state government in the January 2023 political coup dubbed by some as “Kinabalu Move”.
Razeef pointed out that Warisan had gone on its own in the 2022 general election but only managed to win three parliamentary seats in Sabah.
"In GE15, Warisan arrogantly stated that they could win more seats without Pakatan because, to them, Pakatan rode on Warisan's strength during the 14th General Election," he said.
"Warisan was clearly rejected when it only won three seats and lost five of its own seats, including that held by their information chief Azis Jamman and their Deputy President Datuk Darell Leiking," he added.
Razeef noted that Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal had been very clear through his statements that the party would contest solo against Pakatan Harapan.
"So, it is not surprising that many parties would doubt Warisan's loyalty to the federal unity government," he said.
Earlier, Azis said that it was not an issue for Warisan to go solo in the coming state election even though the party would be up against allies under the national Unity government.
He pointed out that in neighbouring Sarawak, Pakatan Harapan sits in opposition to Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) at the state level despite working together under the unity government at the federal level.
The question of loyalty to the federal unity government was not in conflict with Warisan’s stand to stay in the opposition at the state level, Azis said.
