KOTA KINABALU – Sabah-based party United Sabah National Organisation (Usno) has been accepted into the state’s ruling coalition Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) after its application was approved today.
The coalition chief Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor said the rationale behind their acceptance stemmed from the fact that the party had applied since January 2021.
“For over a year and a half, Usno has applied to join GRS. Today, the GRS supreme council member decided to accept Usno into GRS.
“We have also received the applications from KDM, LDP and PCS parties. Although we truly appreciate their interest to join us, we have decided that we need more time to interact and increase our cooperation with them.
“We need to get to know each other better first,” said Hajiji after chairing the GRS supreme council meeting at Menara Kinabalu, today.
Meanwhile, Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat (KDM), Liberal Democratic Party and Parti Cinta Sabah, which also applied to join GRS are now being reviewed.
The chief minister added that moving forward, any interested parties will be included into all of GRS’ programmes and activities, including the coalition’s official launch on May 26 at the Sabah International Convention Centre.
Usno is led by former Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia, while KDM is led by former Warisan vice-president Datuk Peter Anthony.
LDP, on the other hand, is led by Datuk Chin Su Phin and PCS is led by former foreign affairs minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman.
He also said the supreme council leaders have agreed to form a GRS-Barisan Nasional (BN) solidarity committee to improve cooperation with the electoral partner.
“The GRS-BN solidarity committee is a cooperation committee between us and BN. We know that the state government comprises parties from both coalitions and the purpose of this committee is to unite both.
“It is also to assist us in facing future elections together so there will be no clashes between component party members,” he said. – The Vibes, May 9, 2022
