GRS, PH team-up for polls
KOTA KINABALU: Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) has confirmed an electoral pact with Pakatan Harapan for the coming state polls, ending speculation over the tricky alignment between state and national coalitions in Sabah.
Chief Minister and GRS chairman Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor said the local-based coalition will continue cooperation with Sabah Pakatan Harapan forged midway through its first five-year term, after Sabah Barisan Nasional withdrew its support in 2023.
'We will continue the cooperation between GRS and Pakatan as it stands,' he said after officiating the Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (Gagasan Rakyat) annual general assembly here yesterday.
Hajiji said GRS component parties had consented to the arrangement as a strong collaboration between GRS and the national coalition would bring great benefit.
On seat sharing between GRS and Pakatan, he said a formula was in hand with the exception of a few overlapping seats.
In his keynote address at the annual meeting of Gagasan Rakyat, the anchor party of the ruling eight-party GRS, Hajiji hinted that the latter would continue working with Pakatan to ensure continuity and stability.
However, he also touched on what he described as maintaining 'local party dominance in Sabah.'
'Our master is here, not there,' he told delegates in an apparent attempt to assure that Sabah-based parties will remain dominant in the state's political sphere.
Hajiji, who is the Gagasan Rakyat president, said he was confident that GRS would win a second term with the people's strong backing.
The eight-party GRS forged a coalition with Sabah Barisan Nasional to oust the Warisan-Pakatan Harapan state government in the 2020 snap state polls.
Barisan pulled out its support in 2023 but GRS got the backing of Pakatan Harapan to retain its hold on the state government and complete its five-year term.
'We have built a strong home, rooted with the aspirations of the people. We have been realistic in our plans for the state and never made grand promises we could not deliver. We have prioritised the people's welfare,' Hajiji said, adding that the coming state election would be a litmus test for GRS.
He also highlighted the importance of dominant local representation and protecting the state's rights, adding that GRS needed a big mandate to give Sabah a better bargaining position.
The Chief Minister urged party members to counter what he termed as fake and false claims made against the party and its leaders.
'The fake and smear campaigns on social media by our opponents must be countered.
'This politically motivated propaganda is aimed at undermining GRS through misinformation and slander,' he said, adding that misinformation, including fake infographics and videos, were being used to sway public perception.
Besides Gagasan Rakyat, the GRS coalition comprises Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), Sabah STAR, Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP), Usno, Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah (Harapan Rakyat), Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Parti Cinta Sabah (PCS).
PGRS holds 26 of the 42 state seats held by GRS. The 17th Sabah state election must be held before the automatic dissolution of the state assembly on Nov 11.
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