KOTA KINABALU – A closed-door meeting between top leaders in Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) yielded no progress in terms of seat sharing between allied parties last night.
The meeting also made no mention of the five friendly parties trying to enter the ruling Sabah coalition.
Instead, GRS secretary-general Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said the meeting was largely about election preparation.
“It was mostly about election preparations. We did not discuss seats.
“We also don’t have the time to decide on friendly parties,” he said as he was seen leaving the meeting held at the GRS headquarters in Alam Mesra, here, yesterday.
Present were all the GRS component parties presidents namely, PBS president Datuk Seri Maximus Ongkili, Sabah Star president Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan, SAPP president Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee and Usno president Tan Sri Pandikar Amin, as well as Sabah Bersatu chief Datuk Seri Hajiji Mohd Noor who is also the GRS chairman.
The party presidents and Hajiji arrived at the GRS headquarters around 8pm and proceeded to the first floor for a meeting.
An hour later they convened in a meeting room on the ground floor where another round of meetings was held, along with their respective party secretaries-general and GRS supreme council members, with the session ending around 10.30pm.
It could not be ascertained, what the party leaders were discussing in the earlier meeting.
The presidents left the meeting room around 10.30pm, while Hajiji stayed inside the meeting room, leaving only after 11pm.
The other leaders approached by The Vibes also reiterated the meeting had largely focused on election preparations as they began leaving the area.
When approached by reporters as he was leaving, Hajiji said the meeting was on activating the GRS machinery and confirming their cooperation with Barisan Nasional.
As for seat distributions, we have not decided on the candidates he said, adding that he will announce them soon.
“But in the GRS meeting, we are stressing our cooperation with BN and this has already been decided,” he said.
In Tuaran, Hajiji noted the closed-door meeting while sources indicated they would discuss seat distributions and decide on the friendly parties.
The friendly parties are Parti Kesejahteraan Masyarakat led by Datuk Peter Anthony, Liberal Democratic Party led by Datuk Chin Su Pin, Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah led by Tan Sri Liew Yun Fah, Parti Cinta Sabah led by Datuk Seri Anifah Aman, and Parti Anak Negeri led by Datuk Henrynus Amin. – The Vibes, October 14, 2022
