Hajiji urged to make GRS official political entity
PITAS: Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor has been urged to emulate Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) in making the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) an official political entity.
Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) secretary-general Datuk Joniston Bangkuai, who is also the GRS information chief, said formalising GRS would be the best move to make the ruling state coalition even stronger.
“We have full confidence in the chief minister, as the GRS chairman, and other party leaders reaching this conclusion,” he told reporters after launching the Walai Ondoton Pitas Homestay floating resthouse in Kampung Kuyuh here on Friday.
“It will be good for us to emulate GPS in Sarawak.” Bangkuai said GRS had proven itself to be popular among Sabahans and the parties within the coalition also enjoyed close
We have full confidence in the chief minister, as the GRS chairman, and other party leaders reaching this conclusion.
Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor
ties with each other.
Asked if the issue of registering the coalition had been discussed among the parties involved, the state Tourism, Culture and Environment Assistant Minister said they had only held informal talks so far.
“Many of the leaders agree that there are benefits to registering the coalition and I believe this will be looked into soon.”
On Friday, former Sabah chief minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak, who is also the GRS treasurer, called for the coalition to be officially registered to put it on a strong footing ahead of the next general election (GE15).
Following that, Deputy Chief minister Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, who is also the GRS deputy chairman, speculated that the coalition had yet to be registered because not every party was keen on the idea.
Kitingan, the Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR) president, said his party was previously tasked with the registration and had made efforts to do so since last year but had ‘hit a brick wall’ so far.
GRS is a loose coalition of Perikatan Nasional (Bersatu, PAS, STAR, SAPP and Gerakan), Barisan Nasional (Umno, PBRS, MCA and MIC) and PBS.