PITAS, June 17 — The Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (Gagasan Rakyat) started preparing for the 17th State Election (PRN17) with the launch of the Pitas Division, today.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Hajiji Noor who is also the President of Gagasan Rakyat, said that all 73 divisions of the party need to prepare from now on to ensure the victory of Gagasan Rakyat and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS).

He said that all divisions and branches, including the Women’s, Youth and Beliawanis wings, need to move early to strengthen the party machinery and increase membership

"This is what we will do starting in Pitas Division because the PRN17 is only about two years away.

"If GRS and the 73 divisions of Gagasan Rakyat are ready, we can think about making sure we get the people’s mandate again in the next State Election,” he said during the launch at Dataran Bengkoka.

Also present were the head of Pitas Gagasan Rakyat, Datuk Seri Ruddy Awah; General Secretary of Gagasan Rakyat, Datuk Mohd Razali Razi; head of GRS Youth, Datuk Fairuz Renddan and head of Beliawanis, Emmie M. Idang.

Gagasan Rakyat Pitas Division is the first to be launched by Hajiji at the divisional level after the launch of the party at the state level on March 2.

Hajiji said based on the people’s response to the party which is getting more encouraging, he is confident that Gagasan Rakyat has a bright future in this state.

"Our people want a local party to be our platform to fight for the fate of our people in Sabah. It is not easy for us to form this party, everyone knows that our political journey in Sabah is winding and full of great challenges.

"But I am confident that with Gagasan Rakyat, we can raise the struggle of this local party together with GRS for Sabah. This is the big combination that we will use in the next State Election.

"We want to unite the people because we have experienced various waves of political challenges in Sabah. It was not easy for us to reach our position today until we succeeded in using local parties,” he added.

He also expressed his confidence that Gagasan Rakyat with the concept of a multi-racial party is accepted by the people of Sabah.

He said the party’s struggle will send a clear signal to the opposition parties in Sabah that Gagasan Rakyat and GRS will be a strong political platform in the future in Sabah.

Hajiji also reiterated his confidence in the ability of the GRS which now consists of seven parties in facing any challenges towards developing Sabah as the aspirations of the people of this state.

"This is our struggle in Gagasan Rakyat. It is the time for us to use the local party, but we cannot quarrel with the national party. We must also be friends and cooperate with the national party but our priority is local party.

"We must also strengthen GRS and cooperation with component partners because if we are united we will be stronger and progress. We need to learn from past mistakes, we fight a lot causing others to take advantage,” he said.

In the meantime, Hajiji assured the development of districts including Pitas will be given priority in line with the commitment of the GRS government to bring comprehensive development and defend the fate of the people of this state.

He said every project announced by the government will definitely be implemented for the development of the state and the interests of the people, especially in rural areas.

During the event, 450 former members of Parti Warisan declared their support to Gagsan Rakyat. — Borneo Post