Sabah Pakatan considering all options, including GRS logo, for next state polls, says state chief

KOTA KINABALU, Sept 2 — Sabah Pakatan Harapan (PH) is open to the idea of contesting under the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) logo if it was working together in the upcoming state election, said Sabah Pakatan Harapan chief Datuk Christina Liew.

She said the party was open to any ideas and working with anybody, but it would not make its final decision until the coalition meets to discuss the proposal.

“We would consider any and all options, but this is on a party-to-party basis and subject to discussion. We have to consider everything and come up with the best solution. We have to work together for a winning chance,” she said.

However, she pointed out that her own Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) had stuck to using its own logo in past elections when it was still working alongside Parti Warisan.

“But to me, it is too early for PH to consider this. We are working with everybody to provide services to rakyat.

“In my constituency of Api Api, we have various parties supporting our efforts and we serve everybody. That is our main priority now,” she said.

Liew, who is also state tourism, culture and environment minister, said that the current GRS-PH alliance in the state government was working well together and it would be in the state’s best interest to continue.

“I would like to support the chief minister in that we want stability so we can focus on economic growth for the state and federal government.

“We want all sector including the industrial and tourism to continue growing and we need good governance and stability for this,” she added.

On proposals for national parties to sit out the state elections, she said that a combination of state and national parties was a winning combination that would boost all participating parties’ capabilities.

“I do not see why. Working together would help the state reach higher. Now GRS has ministers at the federal level, so we can present more views.

“The whole point of an election is to choose your representative and who can service you better. Why do you have to reject a candidate just because they are from PKR? You vote for the candidate that can give you the best service,” she said.

The next state election is due by September 2025. The current ruling parties are GRS and PH after Umno pulled their support from GRS in January 2023.

However, the battlelines are somewhat unclear as the federal unity government, headed by PH and Umno, have previously said they would like their Sabah counterparts to follow suit.