KOTA KINABALU – Sabah Bersatu chief Datuk Seri Hajiji Mohd Noor dispelled rumours that his relationships with Sabah Umno chief Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin and other Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) leaders have turned sour.
The Sabah chief minister said he also has no bad blood with the Lamag assemblyman and Kinabatangan MP, adding that he is in constant contact with Bung Moktar.
“I will state it clearly, as Bung Moktar is here, that we have never fought (with each other). There has never been a misunderstanding despite what other people are saying about us,” he said when closing the GRS Backbenchers Club retreat at the Kudat Golf and Marina Resort here last night.
“As a matter of fact, my relationship with Bung Moktar, and for that matter with Datuk Maximus Ongkili and Datuk Jeffrey Kitingan is very cordial and cannot be any stronger.
“Even though we are from different parties, we hold steadfast to the GRS pledge.
“With this (clarification) I hope there will be no more talk that Hajiji is not on good terms with Bung Moktar or Max and Jeffrey.
“I have told Bung Moktar that we need to protect the mandate given by the rakyat to GRS.
“We have less than four years before it is time for elections so we need to work hard to bring progress to the people and Sabah.”
Local media reported Bung Moktar as saying that he would defend GRS, but did not clarify the chapter’s stand on working together when the federal election is called.
The two leaders’ statements also came in light of a recent spat between Bersatu chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Umno leader Datuk Seri Najib Razak over the choice of Sabah chief minister after the Sabah election held in 2020.
Hajiji said he understood that he would not be the chief minister without solid support from the various parties in GRS.
“I understand this. Therefore we have to work hard for the people. There is also no need to squabble for seats. We can resolve this by looking at each party’s strength. If a party is strong in a particular area then it will be given the seat,” he said.
On the issue of formalising the GRS alliance, he said he has no qualms if the matter is agreed to by all the components in the GRS.
“If this is what everyone wishes for then I will make the effort to see GRS registered officially,” he said.
Hajiji also said he believed that registering GRS as an official alliance will further bolster the relationship and unity of its components.
Currently, GRS is a loose coalition between Perikatan Nasional (Bersatu Sabah, Star, SAPP, PAS and Gerakan), Barisan Nasional (Umno, PBRS, MIC and MCA), and Parti Bersatu Sabah.
Earlier, Hajiji said GRS won the state election, combining the strength of three independents to bring the total to 41 out of 73 seats to topple Warisan Plus (Warisan, Upko and DAP), which won 32 seats.
After forming the state government, GRS obtained an additional six seats via the appointment of six nominated assemblymen. Subsequently, five opposition assemblymen joined GRS bringing the total seat tally to 52.
“This is proof that the people are now more confident with the GRS government,” he said.
He admitted that the GRS government had faced an uphill task at the start of its administration due to the Covid-19 pandemic and political uncertainty at the federal level.
Restrictions on holding public events, including official government functions, imposed by the movement control order meant that the newly formed GRS government was unable to go to ground to meet the people, he said.
Despite the challenges, he said, GRS continued to work to chart Sabah’s progress through the formulation of Hala Tuju Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ), based on the GRS Aku Janji (I Pledge) and election manifesto.
“There are more than 500 initiatives in the Hala Tuju SMJ 1.0. The secretariat is headed by the state secretary and assisted by the State Public Service Department as well as the State Economic Planning Unit,” he said.
Through the SMJ, Hajiji said, GRS had already achieved several important milestones such as getting an annual payment of the 5% state sales tax on petroleum from Petronas, the amendment to the federal constitution on matters related to Malaysia Agreement 1963, the signing of the commercial collaboration agreement with Petronas, and the all-time biggest revenue of RM5.3 billion the state hit last year.
He said he would look into the resolutions from the retreat for consideration.
“If our state coffers and revenue continue to improve, God willing we will increase the representatives’ allocation (from RM2 million) to RM3 million," he said, adding that a cabinet paper is also expected to be tabled by the Finance Ministry to increase the representatives’ allowance.
Also present were GRS Backbenchers Club chairman Datuk Seri Salleh Tun Said, Special Tasks Minister Datuk Arifin Arif; Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Yakub Khan; and Community Development and People's Wellbeing Minister Shahelmey Yahya. – The Vibes, February 6, 2022
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