KOTA KINABALU: Sabah opposition Parti Warisan wants the state DAP to clarify its stand on Sabah PAS, which continues to work with the ruling Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) coalition.
Warisan legal advisor Chin Teck Ming said DAP was part of the GRS-Pakatan Harapan government and needed to explain the collaboration with PAS at the state level.
"At the federal level, DAP strongly opposes PAS yet at the state level, it collaborates with the party," Chin said Tuesday (Oct 15), adding that this smacked of double standards.
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His comments followed a statement by Sabah PAS commissioner Datuk Dr Aliakbar Gulasan that the party was comfortable working with GRS in the next state election although this had not been decided yet.
Aliakbar is the first PAS assemblyman in the state legislative assembly through a nominated appointment in 2020.
Chin said Sabah DAP secretary Datuk Phoong Jin Zhe has said the party would not work with PAS in the upcoming Sabah election.
“I believe Phoong has to clarify his party's stand in terms of working with PAS.
"If you truly have the commitment and conviction, you should resign from the state government and your ministerial position now to show your refusal to cooperate with PAS," Chin said, accusing Phoong of "political deception.”
“In fact, DAP and Sabah Pakatan Harapan should not have joined the GRS government in the first place,” he added.
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Chin also wanted GRS to confirm if it would allocate seats to Sabah PAS in the state elections so that the public could understand and assess their political alignment.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, then with Perikatan Nasional component Sabah Bersatu, formed GRS in September 2020 and led it in snap polls that month to topple Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal's Warisan-Pakatan state government.
His decision to appoint a PAS assemblyman after the election drew the ire of native-based parties, particularly GRS components Sabah STAR and PBS and Barisan Nasional’s Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah.
After GE15 in 2022, Hajiji led GRS to join the Pakatan-led unity government at the federal level.
Hajiji pulled out of Bersatu in December of that year, leaving Sabah Perikatan but remaining GRS chairman.
At the state level, GRS allied with Sabah Pakatan to hold on to the reins of power after the state Barisan Nasional, led by Umno, withdrew its support in January last year.
Hajiji then took over as president of Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (Gagasan Rakyat) in February last year.
Sabah PAS remained with the GRS government after the changes in the political scenario.
