.JPG "Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Hajiji Noor speaks a press conference at the Sabah state administrative building in Kota Kinabalu September 29, 2020. u00e2u20acu201d Picture by Firdaus Latif")
KOTA KINABALU, Sept 29 — Sabah is unlikely to continue the trend of holding simultaneous elections for its parliamentary and state seats, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor said today as his administration marks its first year in power.
The Gabungan Rakyat Sabah chairman said he wants to serve the full five years of the mandate.
As such, he is unlikely to seek a dissolution of the state assembly should the federal government go for snap polls, which many political observers believe may happen next year.
“Yes, our mandate is for five years and there is no reason why we should not complete our term,” Hajiji told reporters at the Sabah government’s first anniversary celebration here.
Sabah has had simultaneous state elections the last four general elections, but the Warisan-led government called for snap polls last year following an attempted coup by former chief minister Tan Sri Musa Aman.
Hajiji’s GRS coalition had won the last snap polls after Warisan had been in power for just over two years.
GRS comprises BN’s Umno and Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS), Perikatan Nasional’s Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, Sabah STAR, Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP), PAS and Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS).
The alliance was in line with federal alliances then but Umno and PPBM has since fallen out, but reformed the federal government. It is unclear how they will head into the general election.
Sabah Umno chairman Datuk Bung Moktar Radin has repeatedly maintained that the state BN is committed to the GRS mandate as it was given by the people despite changing political scenarios at the federal level.
However, since winning, GRS has yet to register itself as a political coalition with the Registrar of Society.
