KOTA KINABALU: A move to topple the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) government led by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor seems to have fizzled out.
It is learnt that the numbers needed for a simple majority - 40 out of the 79 seats in the state assembly - remain elusive.
Speculation has been rife over the last 48 hours that Sabah Barisan Nasional was pulling its support out of the GRS state government and intended to form a coalition government with Parti Warisan.
It is understood that though support of the 19 Warisan assemblymen remained intact, the 17 Sabah Barisan reps were not totally in agreement with a move to pull their support away from Hajiji’s government.
Sabah Pakatan Harapan has also distanced itself from supporting a possible Warisan-Barisan coalition.
Its state chairman Datuk Christina Liew said their stand has not changed, which was that they stood with the unity Federal Government and supported the state government under Hajiji.
She said, however, none of its seven assemblymen have signed statutory declarations in support of any party.
Meanwhile, GRS assemblymen also gathered at the Sabah International Convention Centre since 6pm on Thursday (Jan 5) to back Hajiji.
Earlier, Warisan had called for a press conference at Pacific Sutera Hotel that was scheduled at 4.30pm.
However, all Warisan assemblymen were present except for its president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal who was speculated to hold a joint press conference with Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin.
But by 6.35pm, it became clear that Bung was not turning up while Shafie has also not appeared.
At 6.40pm, a Warisan party official apologised to the media, explaining that the press conference had been postponed without giving any reason.
So far, neither Shafie nor Bung has officially commented on a possible move over both parties forming a coalition government in Sabah.
It is understood that Bung met with senior state Umno leaders at the Sabah Umno headquarters here shortly after arriving from Kuala Lumpur at 3.30pm on Thursday.
It is not clear what the discussions were about but a senior party official said they were looking at the national leadership for advice.
Some party sources indicated that Sabah Umno assemblymen were not unanimous over the idea of working with Warisan.
GRS secretary-general Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun had on Wednesday (Jan 3) said that Hajiji continued to enjoy the majority support from the 79 Sabah assemblymen.
Masidi issued the statement following speculation that there were certain quarters that have claimed to have the support of more than half of the assemblymen to enable another group to form a new state government.
Without naming the group, he said, Hajiji has majority backing, including from the seven Sabah Pakatan assemblymen who were considered part of the Opposition in the state at the moment, to remain as Chief Minister and thus to lead the state.
Masidi said GRS was also prepared to prove the validity of Hajiji’s support to the appropriate authority.
As it stands, the GRS has 29 assemblymen in their camp, which include 15 direct GRS members (former Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia), seven from PBS, Sabah STAR (six) and SAPP (one).
Barisan, with its 17 assemblymen, gave the GRS-Barisan state government 46 seats in the state assembly.
It is understood that Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat (KDM) which has three seats as well as PAS, Parti Bangsa Malaysia, each with one assemblyman, and one independent rep were also friendly to the state government, meaning Hajiji currently has the support of 53 assemblymen in the state assembly.
So far, GRS partners PBS and Sabah STAR have backed Hajiji to remain as Chief Minister.
GRS information chief Datuk Joniston Bangkuai said any group attempting to overthrow the current government should wait until the next state election because the focus should be to unite and develop the state.
