PAPAR: All parties must understand and respect Sabah’s unique political landscape as the State prepares for its upcoming 17th State Election (PRN17), said Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) Deputy Secretary-General, Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali.
Armizan, who is also the Minister of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living, said Sabah does not need to follow the federal model of political cooperation, such as the one that formed the Unity Government at the national level.
He said each state has its own political composition that reflects its unique landscape, similar to Sarawak and Johor.
window.googletag = window.googletag || {cmd: []};googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.defineSlot('/22826383987/dailyexpress_inline', [1, 1], 'gpt-passback').addService(googletag.pubads());googletag.enableServices();googletag.display('gpt-passback');});“The current political landscape at the state level must be considered, and there should be no pressure to fully replicate the cooperation model between Umno and Pakatan Harapan (PH) established at the federal level.
“This is because the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in December 2022 was specifically intended to form a federal government, and it does not require the same model to be adopted at the state level,” he said.
Armizan said this to reporters after officiating Majestic Ballroom of 10Star Cinemas at Parklane City here organised by 10Star Cinemas Sdn Bhd and WSG Group.on Monday.
He was asked to comment on a political leader in Sabah who said that it is quite impossible to separate Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN), given that there is already a cooperation between BN and PH at the federal level.
The leader said in social media, recently, that political stability in Sabah could only be achieved through strong cooperation between Barisan Nasional (BN), Pakatan Harapan (PH), and local parties.
He further said that BN and PH are pillars of the federal “Madani” government and that separating the two would be impossible, given their shared objectives of stability, development, and securing the people’s future.
The leader also stressed that Sabah’s political context differs from Sarawak, where national parties are rejected while in Sabah, stability depends on collaboration between national and local parties. Any attempt to separate BN from PH in Sabah would be illogical and contrary to the current political reality, said by the leader.
Following this, Armizan said Sabah’s current state government is already a form of Unity Government, formed through the consensus of the GRS-PH Plus coalition, especially after an unsuccessful attempt to topple the state government led by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Haji Noor — an event commonly referred to as the “Kinabalu Move.”
He also questioned why some parties insist Sabah should mirror the federal Unity Government model, even though they previously tried to topple the state government after the federal coalition was formed.
The Papar Member of Parliament pointed out that if there was true respect for the coalition model, there should never have been attempts to overthrow the government led by Datuk Seri Hajiji Haji Noor at the time.
“If they truly wanted to uphold the PH-BN federal cooperation model, there should have been no efforts to destabilize Hajiji’s leadership from the start. Then we could talk about mutual respect,” he said.
Armizan added that GRS’s decision to cooperate with PH in Sabah was based on appreciating PH’s commitment to ensuring Hajiji remained as Chief Minister.
“Through the GRS-PH Plus coalition at the state level, we have witnessed strong cooperation between the leadership for the sake of Sabah’s stability, and most importantly, united in support of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim,” he said.
He said imposing other factors and conditions as the main criteria would not guarantee successful or stable political cooperation.
He emphasized that the core of any political collaboration ahead of the 17th State Election (PRN17) should be based on the willingness and compatibility of the parties involved.
Also present at the event were WSG Group Managing Director Datuk Susan Wong Siew Guen, 10STAR Cinemas Sdn Bhd Chief Executive Officer Onn Norshal Hamzah, and ‘Impak Maksima 2’ film director Datuk Ahmad Idham.