SANDAKAN: Over 4,000 people are registered as Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (Kuamut division) members, including 1,000 in the registration process.
According to Kuamut Gagasan Rakyat Chief, Datuk Masiung Banah, the party established 55 branches through 12 voting District Centres (PDM).
He said five more branches, comprising some 1,000 members, will be registered at the party headquarters before year-end.
This announcement was made following the Kuamut Gagasan Rakyat division meeting at one of the leading hotel here.
The five new Gagasan Rakyat branches to be registered are Jesselton Kota Kinabalu, Ruminding, Lumandai, Kimanimus, dan Bobuluh.
Masiung said the Alitang branch in PDM Penangah recorded the highest number of member registrations with 173 people, followed by the Entilibon Asal branch (129) and Penangah (109).
“We have established a dedicated membership committee and do not accept individuals who are already registered with the component parties of Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS).
“In Gagasan Rakyat, we have an efficient system to verify individual memberships, ensuring there is no duplication of members from other parties within GRS.
Masiung, who is also Gagasan Rakyat Vice President, said there are members from the opposition party who joined Gagasan Rakyat.
The Kuamut Assemblyman clarified that many individuals, particularly those from Umno, Warisan and KDM, voluntarily visited the party office to join Gagasan Rakyat.
“We cannot reject their participation as it is their personal choice to shift allegiance to Gagasan Rakyat.
“Some members of the opposition have already established a Gagasan Rakyat branch in solidarity, expressing their rejection of the party within the opposition bloc.
“In Kuamut, we have made it a requirement that every application to become a party member must include a copy of the ID card certified by the National Registration Department (JPN).
“This allows us to track their membership status before they personally sign the membership form in Gagasan Rakyat,” he said.
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