KOTA KINABALU: The act of pinching other party members to join Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (PGRS) is immoral and of no integrity, says Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin.
The Sabah Umno chief said this also shows that PGRS leaders have lost confidence in their own party and are struggling.
“This is happening in all 73 state constituencies in Sabah,” he claimed in a Facebook post.
Bung said the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah leadership has no choice but to steal members and leaders within the GRS coalition.
The other parties in GRS are Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), Sabah STAR, United Sabah National Organisation (Usno), Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP), Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah (Harapan Rakyat), Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (Gagasan Rakyat), which is the anchor party.
“To me, this action is wrong, immoral, has no integrity and shows that there is loss of confidence in one's own struggles,” he said.
Bung was responding to a recent statement by Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) vice president Datuk Ruslan Muharam, who lamented the actions of some parties in GRS “pinching” members of fellow components, which may cause division in the ruling state coalition.
Ruslan also claimed that this included “bribing” other party members with positions to entice them to join and call for such actions to stop as they do not respect the friendship within the GRS coalition.
Bung, who is Kinabatangan MP and Lamag assemblyman, agreed to this call saying there was no guarantee that PGRS could win the next state election even after getting all the leaders they want.