KOTA KINABALU, Nov 6 — After being greeted on arrival by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad did not discount the possibility of future working relationship with Sabah.

Dr Mahathir, on his first visit here since he was prime minister, smiled and said the duo had talked about the latest developments in Sabah.

"Well we didn’t discuss politics — only developments in Sabah,” he said while smiling.

When asked whether there was a possibility of working together in the future, he said "we will see what happens after the election.”

Dr Mahathir was national chairman of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia when Hajiji was its Sabah chairman.

An aide said they were "old friends” and had no official meeting planned

Earlier, he had panned the idea of working with Warisan again by saying that the Sabah-based party is not doing well.

He said that Warisan purportedly does not have enough candidates, citing that many of its former elected representatives had left the party.

"I don’t know...They are new and not known in the Peninsula. They are still known as a Sabah party. Many former representatives have left them. So what can they do,” he said.

He said that working with Gabungan Parti Sarawak however is an option.

Dr Mahathir is in Sabah for two days to launch the state chapter of GTA, his coalition that includes among others Parti Pejuang Tanahair, Malay rights advocate Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia (Putra), and the Islamist party Berjasa.

He will meet party leaders tonight and will head to Papar in the morning for a rally.