KOTA KINABALU: Two of Sabah's major native-based non-Muslim parties under the ruling Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) are set to hold a major gathering Saturday (July 12) in a move to strengthen their unity ahead of the state election.
The state's oldest registered party, Parti Bersatu Sabah, and Sabah STAR are targeting to work on a unified front within the GRS coalition to contest most of the 23 to 25 native Kadazandusun, Murut and Rungus majority seats.
The major gathering of the two parties comes after over a year of discussions on working together to unify their grassroots support and even discuss merger following the signing of a memorandum of understanding on April 18, 2024.
Though the talks for merging the two parties have now been left on the backburner, Sabah STAR president Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan and PBS acting president Datuk Seri Dr Joachim Gunsalam have been steering towards agreeing for the parties to share unified stand ensuring there was no splits in the votes in their native strongholds.
In the 2020 snap state election, candidates from PBS and Sabah STAR clashed in certain seats going against the allocation agreed by the then coalition partners - Perikatan Nasional, Barisan Nasional and PBS under the yet to be registered GRS banner.
Sources from both parties indicate that they were looking at contesting at least 10 seats each under the GRS coalition while leaving out non-Muslim seats held by their partner Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (Gagasan Rakyat).
GRS information chief Datuk Joniston Bangkuai said that over 5,000 delegates from both parties are expected to attend the convention aimed at strengthening cooperation to secure GRS’s success at the polls.
UiTM Sabah political analyst Tony Paridi Bagang said the convention serves as a critical groundwork-laying effort that could significantly shape GRS’ competitiveness and cohesion.
"It also is reinforcing and renewing people's trust especially among the Kadazandusuns," he added.
Leaders from both PBS and Sabah STAR are confident that if the grassroots remain intact and supportive of each other's candidates, the two parties could secure most of the native non-Muslim seats straddling from the state's interior, northern and west coast.
However, political analysts said the relations could become testy if Sabah STAR changes its position as it watches closely the GRS led by Chief Minister Datuk Hajiji Noor's seat sharing formula with Sabah Pakatan Harapan.
Kitingan, who is pro-local party, has remained restive over the possible GRS-Pakatan electoral pact while Dr Gunsalam has repeatedly maintained that the party will remain within the GRS coalition.
A senior Sabah STAR leader, who declined to be named, said since talks have been initiated between the two parties, there has been good progress at the grassroots levels for them to work together.
At least five divisions had already put together joint working committees with other divisions still working on it.
"We hope that whatever decisions are made even if it may involve reviewing our position in GRS, Sabah STAR and PBS must have a common stand, otherwise the unity efforts will not be of any use," the Sabah STAR leader said.
Apart from PBS and Sabah STAR, native Kadazandusun, Murut and Rungus seats are now being held by Gagasan Rakyat and GRS's coalition partner Sabah Pakatan as well opposition Parti Warisan and Parti KDM.
Electoral pacts in Sabah remain fluid with coalitions or individual parties making any clear commitments until after Hajiji calls for the dissolution of the assembly anytime before Nov 11.
