[UPDATED] Sabah’s Gagasan Rakyat looks to strengthen bloc with assemblymen’s defection

KOTA KINABALU – The lack of anti-hopping legislation in Sabah continues to prevail as yet another string of assemblymen chose to leave their parties in support of the newly formed Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (Gagasan Rakyat).

Fresh from a state political crisis that almost resulted in the fall of the state government, last month five Umno assemblymen announced their departure from the party, while three other representatives who left Warisan on February 6 followed suit to support Gagasan Rakyat which presently leads the state government.

Earlier, Parti Kesejahteraan Demokrasi Masyarakat (KDM) also announced its support to Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor who is the Gagasan Rakyat chairman and the chief minister.

The five Umno assemblymen include Datuk Dr Yusof Yacob (Sindumin), Datuk James Ratib (Sugut), Datuk Jasni Daya (Pantai Dalit), Datuk Arshad Bistari (Tampasuk) and Datuk Hamild @ Hamid Awang (Balung).

The five assemblymen and the three Warisan representatives namely Mohammad Mohamarin (Banggi), Ben Chong (Tg Kapor), and Norazlinah Arif (Kunak) are likely to apply to join Gagasan Rakyat, said the group spokesperson, Yusof Yacob, at a press conference held at the Sabah International Convention Centre here today. 

“Leaving the party has nothing to do with last month’s political crisis. But we are doing this of our own free will because we don't want to experience another crisis. 

“We want to focus on stability and the people too want this, as well as development,” he told reporters surrounded by around 200 of their supporters here. 

Yusof however confirmed later that he is not an Umno member as his application to join as a member is still pending. 

The five also have not filed their resignation letters to the party, but only announced their departure from the party. 

Jasni also noted that he was prepared to face the Umno disciplinary board. 

On January 6, Barisan Nasional (BN) led by Umno broke their cooperation with Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), triggering a political crisis in the state due to Hajiji losing his majority support to remain chief minister.  

This comes after Hajiji left Bersatu, where he later took over Gagasan Rakyat as his new political outfit.

The crisis ended when seven Pakatan Harapan assemblymen along with five Umno dissidents decided to support Hajiji, returning his majority, with the backing of 44 assemblymen. 

The state government is now known as the GRS-led Sabah Government in the crisis’s aftermath. 

BN also now backs Hajiji as the state government with Sabah Umno number two, Datuk Yakub Khan, to lead peace talks with GRS. 

Switching parties is not illegal in Sabah as the state has not adopted the anti-party hopping law. 

Meanwhile, KDM has flipped its support thrice since the party’s inception in 2022. 

The party led by Datuk Peter Anthony had earlier applied to join GRS, but later decided to go against the ruling party during the political crisis. 

Anthony said he met with the deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi during his visit to the state last month and had been advised not to issue any statements that could cause rifts between the parties. 

He noted this is to respect the ongoing cooling-off period observed between BN and GRS in the state.

Hajiji now has the backing of 51 of 73 assemblymen in the state legislative assembly, with the KDM bringing in three more new assemblymen into the fold. – The Vibes, February 21, 2023