After Bersatu exit, Hajiji now lands Gagasan Rakyat president role

KOTA KINABALU – Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor has officially taken over the helm of Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (Gagasan Rakyat) following the party’s extraordinary general meeting (EGM) today.  

Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun is deputy president, while Datuk Mohd Arifin Mohd Arif, Datuk Rubin Balang, and Datuk Masiung Banah are vice-presidents.  

Hajiji, who is also chairman of the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) coalition that runs the state, said all members in the coalition now have a political platform that is “100% local”.

He said two main characteristics of Gagasan Rakyat that make the party attractive are its multi-racial nature and that it is representative of Sabahans.

These reasons are also why partners in GRS – Parti Bersatu Sabah, Sabah Star, Sabah Progressive Party, and United Sabah National Organisation – have accepted Gagasan Rakyat as GRS’s latest component partner, Hajiji added.

“Moreover, they (GRS component parties) have long expressed their wish for GRS to be a local platform in the real sense, which is for all partners to be local parties. Now we are 100% local,” he said at Gagasan Rakyat’s EGM at the Sabah International Convention Centre, here.

The party will have an official launch on March 2 where Hajiji said he will unveil its direction.

“Being a local party does not mean we reject the national agenda nor put behind national interests. Malaysia is our homeland. Nonetheless, the original goal of the formation of Malaysia was to bring progress to the people and Sabah.  

“We want a more valuable and meaningful implementation of the federalism system based on the federal constitution and the Malaysia Agreement 1963.  

“For this reason, we will work with any quarters that accept and put Sabah’s interest first,” said Hajiji, who was formerly with Bersatu and Umno before that.

He and other Sabah lawmakers quit Bersatu in December to become “direct GRS members” before taking over Gagasan Rakyat, an existing party.

The party will establish chapters in all of Sabah’s 73 state constituencies.

The respective branches’ and divisions’ annual general meeting has been scheduled for July and September, respectively culminating in the annual congress in November. – The Vibes, February 5, 2023