KOTA KINABALU – Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), a coalition of political parties that makes up the Sabah government, will be officially registered to ensure steady cooperation between parties, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Mohd Noor announced.
He said that this is what the parties in GRS want.
“We must have an official coalition so that with it, the cooperation between parties that support the state government will be enhanced,” he said in a statement today.
GRS currently consists of Perikatan Nasional, Barisan Nasional, and Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS).
In another development, Hajiji said he welcomes Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat (KDM), a new party formed by Datuk Peter Anthony, to join or support GRS.
However, he said any decision regarding KDM joining GRS officially must first obtain support from the existing ruling parties.
“KDM wanting to join or support GRS, we welcome it. This is for stable politics in Sabah so that we can focus on developing the state.
“We have just been given the mandate to govern Sabah, and we have about four years to go; our efforts must be focused on the development and economy of our people.
“So, we welcome KDM, but we have other parties in GRS; whatever we want to do or decide, we must get support and approvals from all our allies,” the GRS chairman added.
Anthony was Warisan’s vice-president before he quit the party last December and formed KDM that is friendly to the state government.
Meanwhile, only parties that are proven to be free of corruption should be allowed to join GRS, said Sabah PAS secretary Aliakbar Gulasan.
He said GRS should set a strict condition on all members of the coalition, ensuring that all parties have never been involved in corruption and abuse of power.
“GRS must prove that it is free of corruption, more so now that the young people are more alert with transparency and integrity.
“GRS must show that its priority is the people because corruption could destroy the whole administration system and it will negatively impact the people,” Aliakbar said in a statement today.
Despite not mentioning a particular party in his statement, it was clear that Aliakbar was referring to KDM that had intended to join GRS.
Aliakbar also said: “If there are signs that they are guilty, they will try to join the ruling party,” hinting that Anthony wants to join GRS because he is currently facing court charges.
As such, Aliakbar proposed that any party that wants to join GRS must first go through screening by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.
So far, other than Sabah PAS, PBS said that GRS should wait until the KDM has proven aspiration, motivation, and contribution to GRS before it should be accepted.
KDM, however, gets one support from the government when Sabah Star president Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan said the former joining GRS will be beneficial to the state alliance. –The Vibes, February 26, 2022
