Kota Kinabalu: Sabah’s pressing concerns, including basic facilities, job opportunities and full implementation of MA63 were largely unaddressed when Bersatu President Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was Prime Minister.
“Now, after losing power, Bersatu is returning with recycled promises that offer no guarantee for Sabah,” said GRS Information Chief Datuk Nizam Abu Bakar Titingan.
The Apas Assemblyman said Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) internal fractures further undermine its credibility, citing open criticism from PAS leaders who accused Bersatu of making decisions without consensus. Muhyiddin is head of the PN opposition coalition.
Hence, he said, Bersatu Vice-President Datuk Seri Ronald Kiandee’s remark that the State Government is suffering from “five illnesses” is rhetoric without real solutions.
Nizam said the GRS-Plus state government does not deny Sabah is facing major challenges, particularly in water supply, electricity and land development.
However, he said, the State Government under Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor is implementing concrete measures through the Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) roadmap plan.
“These issues are the legacy of decades. The Government is focusing on basic infrastructure, job creation, and increasing state revenue,” he said in a statement.
Nizam, who is also the Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister, said Bersatu’s confrontational style of politics, including what he described as calls to “raise political arms,” suggested that the party was treating Sabah as a testing ground for PN’s bid for federal power.
He said Ronald, himself, admitted that victory in Sabah was merely “the beginning of PN’s road to power in the peninsula,” showing Sabah was not their real priority.
Political analysts, he said, have also described PN as still “searching for its centre of gravity.”On Kiandee’s claim that Sabah would only receive help if Bersatu is returned to power, Nizam said the State Government has already secured support from the Federal Government, including development allocations, infrastructure projects and commitments on MA63.
Nizam also reminded that during the 15th General Election, Ronald had sought to be fielded under GRS but broke consensus with Barisan Nasional in his desperation to contest.
