Kota Kinabalu: United Sabah National Organization (Usno) President Tan Sri Pandikar Amin hopes the Chief Minister’s slogan, ‘Rumah Kita, Kita Jaga’ (Our Home, We Take Care) will mean that Gabungan Rakyat Sabah will contest all 73 seats in the 17th State Election to be held this year.
“GRS’ primary struggle is to uphold local political autonomy,” said the former Dewan Rakyat Speaker who now heads Usno. He said the GRS slogan showed that Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, who is GRS Chairman, wants a truly local party to lead Sabah and safeguard Sabah’s interests.
Advertisement (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});He recalled Hajiji’s political journey of leaving Umno, then Bersatu, before taking over the Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (PGRS) to establish GRS as a local political entity.
“GRS already has eight component parties and distributing the seats among these local parties is sufficient. So, imagine the 73 seats in Sabah like a longhouse with eight families and 73 rooms divided among the eight family heads.”
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“If they are strong and influential, they should build a new house there first, and only then should we talk about cooperation. “But now, they want to push for cooperation right from the start. Those 73 seats should belong to GRS alone because this is our home, and we take care of our home.
Advertisement (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});“Unless Hajiji changes that definition. But I haven’t heard that from Hajiji yet as there hasn’t been a meeting on it,” he told reporters after officiating five Usno divisions under Zone 3 namely Likas, Karambunai, Darau, Inanam, Sulaman and Pantai Dalit during Usno Roadshow Zone 3 ‘Peduli Rakyat’ (Care for People) at a multipurpose hall in Kg Warisan, Inanam.
He said federal leaders have called for GRS to cooperate with peninsula-based parties but that does not necessarily mean seat-sharing.
Advertisement (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});“Even though Hajiji has said we must work with the federal government for the sake of stability it is because he is the head of the government. Politics is about strategy, skills, and negotiation,” he said.
Pandikar, 70, said he may shift to Tanjung Kapor or Banggi if he contest under the coalition. He previously contested in Pintasan in PRN16 and lost to Youth Chief of Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (Gagasan Rakyat), Datuk Fairuz Renddan by a mere 84 votes.
He said he is still strong and eligible to contest. “If I see many older candidates contesting, I won’t be embarrassed to join.
“But if all the candidates are 28 years old, I wouldn’t be excited. I’m still strong even though I use a cane. I’m eligible to contest, I’m a winnable candidate, I can still speak well, and I have no other commitments. So, I feel I’m fit to run. “But whether I will contest or if the party will nominate me — that remains to be seen,” he said.
He said Hajiji hinted that Usno could focus on coastal areas which are strongholds of Parti Warisan like Kunak, Sekong, Tanjong Kapor and Banggi.
“Although the (former Warisan) elected representatives (Kunak, Tanjong Kapor, Banggi) have joined Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (Gagasan Rakyat), I still consider these seats as Warisan strongholds because not all the Warisan voters in those seats would vote for the three who jumped to Gagasan Rakyat,” he said.
He said the people of Sabah do not have many choices as they can only choose between GRS, Umno (Barisan Nasional) or Warisan.
He said most of the leaders in these parties are friends as they were in Umno at one time and thus have the same DNA.
“So, if the opposition says that GRS has ringworm, then they also have ringworm because they are born from the same DNA,” said Pandikar.
He said those who label Usno as a mosquito or parasite party are political opponents who feel threatened.