The collapse of Bersatu in Sabah

TODAY (Dec 10), Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor announced that the leadership of Sabah Bersatu has unanimously decided to leave Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) and form a new political organisation in the state.

Hajiji, who is also the Chairman of the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), has not stated when they will form a new local party, but he has stated that in the meantime, all Bersatu members will be members of the GRS, which is now part of the Federal government in a coalition with Pakatan Harapan (PH), Barisan Nasional (BN), Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), and Warisan, among others.

“This unanimous decision is in the interest of Sabah, for the sake of unity and to fulfil the rakyat’s wish and aspiration for us to fight and struggle under the auspices of a local party,” he said in a statement.

“With this decision, we will now use GRS to voice out Sabah’s interests and that of the Bornean states in Malaysia.”

Hajiji added, “Our Sabah Maju Jaya vision is to ensure Sabah’s economic recovery and that unity among the people prevails. It is our commitment together with Sarawak as the Borneo Bloc to voice out the people’s aspiration and to see that the Malaysia Agreement or MA63 will be fully implemented.

“The Bersatu Sabah’s leadership decision to leave Bersatu is based on the premise that the situation is no longer tenable to remain in the status quo, he stressed.

“This is because at the federal level Bersatu is in the opposition while GRS has pledged support to the unity government led by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. Sabah wants political stability and unity,” Hajiji added.

“We want to ensure momentum in Sabah’s growth and development and to see that Sabah prospers in accordance with the mandate given to us in the last elections.

”We thank the president of Bersatu and chairman of Perikatan Nasional (PN), Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for his leadership during our tenure as Bersatu members,” he added.

Last week, Star president Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan confirmed that the party has left PN.

However, Kitingan who is also Sabah Deputy Chief Minister said an announcement about it will be made soon.

Star was previously a component party of PN since the 16th state election in 2020.

By leaving PN, Star is now only a member of Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) together with Sabah Bersatu, PBS, SAPP and USNO. — Dec 10, 2022

 

Main photo credit: Borneo Post Online

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