KOTA KINABALU: Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor is keeping all doors open for an electoral pact, including with Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional.
Hajiji, who is facing calls from within his Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) coalition to go alone in the next state elections, said it was important to keep options open as the final decision would be in Sabah's best interest.
“In politics, we must think of all in the (ruling) government. They are our friends in government, and this government is made up of GRS, Pakatan and some members of Barisan,” he said.
He said this to reporters following continuous pressure from three GRS component parties—Usno, Sabah STAR, and Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP)—for the local coalition to contest all 73 state seats.
There were also calls urging the national-based parties to stay out of the coming state polls.
The latest such call was made on Wednesday (Aug 28) by Usno president Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia who said that national parties should step aside and let the Sabah parties contest the state elections.
Hajiji, who is Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (Gagasan Rakyat) president, said this was Pandikar’s own decision and the state has yet to decide on seats.
“We need to think of what is good for Sabah’s development and unity,” he said.
He said the current state government was working in a coalition with Pakatan and some members from Barisan and, if possible, work with more political parties so that they could all develop the state together in unity.
Sabah Barisan had in January last year withdrawn its support for Hajiji but some of its assemblymen continued to support Hajiji and the state government.
Apart from Gagasan Rakyat, Usno, SAPP and Sabah STAR, the others in this eight-party GRS coalition are Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) with Parti Cinta Sabah led by Datuk Seri Anifah Aman, recently joining the coalition.
Gagasan Rakyat Segama division youth information chief Mohd Zulmer Zulkapli Along said that Pandikar’s proposal does not suit the current political situation in Sabah.
He said Pandikar may have forgotten that during the attempted power struggle in January, it was Pakatan assemblymen who supported GRS to stabilise the state government.
