KOTA KINABALU: Upko’s decision to apply to join Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) is driven by a desire to see Sabah led by local parties and stand as an equal alongside other states in the federation, says party president Datuk Ewon Benedick.
He said experience showed that challenges remain in strengthening Sabah’s political consensus, including matters involving its interests at the national level.
"We must learn from what happened before. Just because we are in a national coalition, there are parties in Kuala Lumpur that do not support matters related to Sabah.
"This (is why we must) strengthen the coalition of local parties in Sabah," he said in his keynote address at the Kota Belud Upko division's triennial general meeting in Kadamaian on Wednesday (June 17).
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Ewon said the party applied to join the five-party GRS coalition led by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor with the intention of strengthening unity and cooperation among local parties.
"On May 29, we submitted our application to the chairman of GRS for Upko to become a component party.
"Our intention is to make GRS strong, just like the Sabah Alliance Party (the first coalition government in Sabah) in 1963," he said.
He added that many GRS leaders have experience in national parties and understand the challenges Sabah faces in fighting for its rights and interests.
"We must contribute to the strength of local parties under the leadership of the Chief Minister. That is why we applied to join," he said.
Ewon stressed, however, that Upko being in GRS would not diminish its role in championing issues related to the people and the state.
He urged members in the division to support local parties and work for unity and cooperation among them.
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"Let us not attack other local parties, but instead work together," he said, adding that Upko’s main focus is for Sabah to be led wholly by local parties in the future.
"This is important so that we can stand equally strong with Sarawak and equally firm with our partners in Peninsular Malaysia."
GRS component Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) president Datuk Seri Dr Joachim Gunsalam said Upko must convince the coalition's supreme council that it would not leave whenever it liked, and was committed to being part of the state government.
He said approving the application should not be a problem if Upko could convince the GRS supreme council of its sincerity.
Upko is a breakaway of PBS formed after the fall of the party-led state government in 1994.
Upko became a member of Barisan Nasional but left the coalition after the 2018 general election to form the state government with Parti Warisan and Pakatan Harapan.
In the 2022 general election, Upko became a member of Pakatan Harapan but left it to go solo in last year's state polls.
It then joined GRS, Pakatan and Barisan to form a coalition government following a hung election result.
Upko has three seats – Kadamaian, Tamapruli and Moyog – in the state assembly.
