Sabah PAS ‘comfortable’ with GRS, says state commissioner

Sabah PAS ‘comfortable’ with GRS, says state commissioner

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah PAS is keeping its options open as it gears up for the Sabah state election, which is due anytime in the next 12 months.

Its state commissioner Datuk Aliakbar Gulasan said they were happy with the present set-up with Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS).

“We are definitely comfortable with the cooperation with GRS,” he said when contacted.

“Perikatan Nasional also has yet to make any movement in Sabah.

“There is no final decision on a pact with any side as yet (but) we are exploring the best way moving forward,” said the nominated assemblyman.

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Sabah PAS created history by obtaining its first seat in the state after being appointed as one of the six nominated assemblymen following the 2020 Sabah state snap election which was then won by the loose GRS coalition made up of Perikatan, Barisan Nasional and Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS).

PAS is a founding member of Perikatan Nasional at the federal level.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor was then the head of Sabah Perikatan as the head of the Sabah chapter of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu).

The decision to appoint PAS however drew the ire of the native-based parties particularly GRS components Sabah STAR, PBS Barisan Nasional’s Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah despite the federal Islamist party not even contesting in the state election then.

Hajiji has since pulled out of Bersatu in December 2022, effectively leaving Sabah Perikatan but remaining GRS chairman and taking over as president of Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (Gagasan Rakyat) in February last year.

All eyes will be on whether Hajiji will maintain the status quo after the dissolution of the state legislative assembly.

PAS deputy president Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man had also said earlier in June that they were comfortable working with GRS.

Tuan Ibrahim said PAS was open to discussing cooperation for the Sabah polls before the state assembly is dissolved but admitted it felt “more comfortable with existing friends in the state government.”