Kota Kinabalu: Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) feels “vindicated” with Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) Chairman Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Hajiji Haji Noor’s indication that the coalition may contest solo in the 17th State election, if the plan by Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) to limit cooperation to themselves is final.
Its President Datuk Seri Panglima Yong Teck Lee said SAPP has been consistently advocating for GRS to contest all 73 Sabah state seats without including peninsula-based parties for two years and to focus on cooperation with other local parties.
“SAPP has been talking about this (GRS contesting 73 State seats) for two years already. As a consequence of speaking up, SAPP had been bombarded left, right and centre from near and far. Supporting only Sabah parties is clearly the trend,” said the former Chief Minister.
On Thursday, GRS Chairman Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Hajiji Haji Noor said it adheres to the principle that Sabah should be governed by local parties, while not disregarding the role and importance of national parties within a broader political cooperation framework.
“If the final decision of PH and BN is to work together in the coming State Election, then GRS is prepared to contest solo and focus on collaboration with other like-minded local parties.
“What GRS is fighting for is political stability and wellbeing of the people for the future of Sabah,” Hajiji had said.
He also dismissed that the PH-BN alliance was a wake-up call for GRS.
“This PH-BN alliance is not a wake-up call. The wake-up calls were made by SAPP, Star Sabah President Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey [Kitingan], and Usno President Tan Sri Pandikar Amin. But nobody in GRS listened. Now, it is not a wake-up call. It is the fire alarm,” Yong said.
Meanwhile, Dr Jeffrey said Hajiji’s statement on GRS having to contest solo if the PH-BN arrangement is final was a very welcome and timely statement.
— Hayati Dzulkifli
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