PUTATAN: Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) Chairman Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor has remained consistent in supporting a GRS-Pakatan Harapan (PH) Plus collaboration ahead of the upcoming State election, said Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (Gagasan Rakyat) Petagas Chief, Isquzawan Arsit.
However, he noted PH’s recent indications suggesting a pivot towards Barisan Nasional, which forced Hajiji, who is also Chief Minister, to make it clear that GRS is prepared to contest the State election independently, if it has no choice.
“This is a challenge we are ready to face because we believe Sabah must be led by a local party, specifically GRS.
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');});“This reflects not only what has been achieved so far but also the aspirations of the people of Sabah,” he said during the Gagasan Rakyat Petagas annual division meeting, recently.
“In any political negotiation, GRS must be at the core. If others choose to sideline GRS, then we as its leaders are ready to move forward. The time has come to empower our local party.
“Only a locally-driven government can deliver Sabah’s needs,” he stressed.
Isquzawan expressed confidence in GRS’ ability to outperform the competition, citing timely and impactful grassroots initiatives.
Focusing on his constituency, he said youth empowerment remained a top priority, with a vision that every household in Petagas should have at least one member in higher education.
“Young voters under the age of 40 now make up over 60 per cent of the electorate, not just in Petagas but across Sabah.
“It’s time GRS fields more young, capable candidates who can represent youth perspectives alongside experienced leaders in the state government,” he said.
He said Gagasan Rakyat actively engaged young people through partnerships with NGOs, farmers and fisherfolk associations, adding that many youths have voiced their desire to see leaders from their own generation in office.
“Putatan is a small but vital area, with most of its workforce involved in food and fisheries. We’ve requested key public facilities such as a fire station, police station and health clinics.
“We’re also working to bring public universities closer to the community to support local students,” he added.
On election preparedness, Isquzawan revealed that the division has launched G10, a strategic grassroots team involving women, youth and other community leaders.
“We’ve been going house-to-house to engage with voters and have identified about 6,000 undecided voters in Petagas. Our target now is to survey 1,000 households in greater detail,” he said.
He noted that Petagas has between 18,000 and 19,000 registered voters, and the division has already built strong engagement with over half of them.
“We’re connecting with seniors, young people and various local groups through sports, cultural activities, and more.
“We’re confident that with strong local support and dedicated outreach, GRS can win in Petagas and play a major role in forming the next State government,” he said.