KUALA LUMPUR: Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) cannot win the next Sabah state election on its own, says Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan.
The former minister in the Prime Minister’s Department said GRS would need the combined support of Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional to continue ruling the state.
“Whether or not GRS can win comfortably, the answer is no. GRS needs to cooperate with Pakatan and Barisan so that they can offer a comprehensive solution to Sabahans.
“It is difficult to go solo, and political history in Sabah has shown that even a local-based party using the ‘Sabah for Sabahan’ slogan cannot win. They usually secure a small number of seats,” he said.
Abdul Rahman said this during the “Economic Politics Forum 2024: Reality of Political and Economic Challenges in the 21st Century” held at the International Youth Centre here on Wednesday (Sept 18).
The former Kota Belud MP said that unlike Sarawak, the best recipe to ensure stability in Sabah is a combination of local-based and national-based political parties.
He explained that due to its colourful history, where Sabah’s state administration has changed hands a few times, having national-based parties in the mix would further empower Sabahans.
“We can never compare GRS and GPS (Gabungan Parti Sarawak) fairly. For Sabah to be further empowered, it needs the element of national-based parties.
“Consider this: when local-based parties are in dispute, it will spell disaster, and so the national-based parties will be the referee to keep things in check. Even if the national-based parties are facing issues, they have their ‘daddies’ at the federal level to keep them in check.
“Besides, the combination of local and national-based parties will ensure that Sabahans have a say in who becomes the next Prime Minister,” he added.
The Sabah state election is due to be held by December next year after the legislature’s term expires.
Meanwhile, in regard to allocations for Opposition MPs, Abdul Rahman, who is also former urban wellbeing, housing and local government minister, pointed out the difference between such allocations and allocations for development.
He said it is wrong to assume that a parliamentary constituency under an Opposition leader who does not receive an allocation from the federal government will be left behind in its economic and infrastructure development.
“An MP's allocation is small, about half a million ringgit, mostly used for their service centre and small projects. This is one thing.
“The other is the allocation for development, and these are two separate allocations.
“As the minister in charge of the Economic Planning Unit years ago, I can tell you that we never denied the right to receive development funds to any constituency under Opposition leaders.
“So please learn to differentiate between the two because they are not the same,” he added.
Abdul Rahman was commenting on the recent memorandum of understanding (MOU) presented to the Opposition.
It was reported that the Opposition had rejected the MOU drafted by the government, claiming that the document goes against the principles of the Federal Constitution, among others.
PAS secretary-general Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan previously claimed that the draft set a strict condition where the opposition would need to support the government on certain occasions - one of the reasons Perikatan Nasional rejected it.
Abdul Rahman pointed out that it is normal for the government to impose such a condition in a Confidence and Supply Agreement (CSA) with the Opposition.
However, he said this would usually apply to a government with a weak majority.
“Things were different with the two previous prime ministers. Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin became prime minister because of the Sheraton Move, and Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri also did not become prime minister through an election.
“In such a scenario, yes, it makes sense for Muhyiddin and Ismail Sabri to impose a condition for support from the Opposition.
“But it is different now with the current government under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim because his government has a two-thirds majority.
“This kind of CSA is not very important for him (Anwar and his government) since he already has a strong majority,” Abdul Rahman said.
