KOTA KINABALU: Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) heads into a political storm as it kicks out its founding members – Sabah STAR and Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) – amid differences over an electoral pact with Pakatan Harapan.
GRS secretary-general Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said the two parties, headed by Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan and Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee, were no longer members as they wanted to use their party symbols in the upcoming polls, a move likely to see them contest against the Pakatan candidates.
“The party presidents stated that they did not want to be bound by the seat allocation quota being finalised by GRS and Pakatan.
“This means that Sabah STAR and SAPP are likely to field candidates in state constituencies that will also be contested by candidates from Pakatan.
“With this decision and action, the membership of Sabah STAR and SAPP in GRS is automatically terminated,” he said in a statement yesterday.
However, the narrative differed, with Kitingan explaining that he left GRS because they insisted on working with Pakatan and were giving away too many seats.
He confirmed that he had informed the GRS presidential council meeting on Wednesday night that the party was leaving the local coalition following its move to work with Pakatan.
“I attended the meeting. I have informed them that the party is leaving,” he said.
Yong, meanwhile, said the GRS reasons caught him by surprise, but he was not going to argue about it.
“Our stand has been very clear and publicly known that only Sabah local parties should contest in the state election,” he said.
The party presidents of GRS, led by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, met for a dinner meeting in a cordial and amicable atmosphere to discuss the coalition’s electoral pact with Pakatan for the state election.
Each leader was given a chance to present their views on the issue at the Chief Minister’s official residence, Sri Gaya.
They presented their firm views on the issue, sources said.
Hajiji, who is Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah president, together with Usno president Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia, Parti Bersatu Sabah acting president Datuk Seri Dr Joachim Gunsalam and Parti Cinta Sabah president Tan Sri Anifah Aman, did not object to the pact, according to sources.
Liberal Democratic Party president Datuk Chin Su Phin and Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah president Tan Sri Liew Yun Fah also agreed with the majority to support the pact but voiced their preference for GRS to go solo, sources said.
Both Kitingan and Yong insisted that the local coalition go solo and that Pakatan should only be given its seven incumbent seats, sources added.
The sources also said Hajiji had told the meeting that GRS wanted to allocate 18 of the 73 seats to Pakatan, which is asking for 21 to 23 seats in the ongoing negotiations.
According to the sources, the presidential meeting did not vote on the GRS-Pakatan pact but only discussed the matter.
The sources added that Hajiji did not indicate or hint at any date for the dissolution of the Sabah assembly, whose five-year term expires on Nov 11.
