Federal leader’s insult pushed GRS into unity govt, says Hajiji

GRS chairman Hajiji Noor says the federal leader had talked of being the 'master', dismissed the idea of the Borneo Bloc, and did not want Sabah to engage with Sarawak.

Federal leader’s insult pushed GRS into unity govt, says Hajiji

PETALING JAYA: A federal leader’s disdain for the proposed “Borneo Bloc” political cooperation led Gabungan Rakyat Sabah into supporting Anwar Ibrahim’s formation of the unity government after the 2022 general election, GRS chairman Hajiji Noor said today.

Speaking at the annual convention of Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah, he said a former federal leader, whom he did not name, had dismissed the idea of Bornean cooperation.

“I was with Masidi Manjun and Jeffrey Kitingan in a meeting with a big leader over there (in Peninsular Malaysia) at the time. The person said they were the masters. He did not like the Borneo Bloc. He did not want us to share our experiences and stories with our neighbouring state of Sarawak,” he said.

“I was shocked by his words. I thought about them for a long time. What did they mean? What was his intent? As I thought about it, I lost heart (tawar hati) in these people,” he said in a video of his speech published on Facebook by Sabah Media.

Hajiji said it was after much thought that he finally decided that GRS would support the unity government being formed by Anwar.

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Since then, he said Anwar’s government “has listened to our voices, and we have been treated well”, and reiterated that GRS remained in support of the prime minister.

Hajiji said many of Sabah’s demands under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 were approved by Anwar, as opposed to previous leaders who found difficulty in devolving power to the state.

“So what are we hoping for? If the unity government is good for our state, why shouldn’t we support it?” he said.

In March, deputy prime minister Fadillah Yusof said the unity government had successfully resolved nine key claims related to MA63, including power to regulate gas supply in Sabah, the administration of the judiciary in Sabah and Sarawak, and guidelines on land reserved for federal purposes in the two states.