KOTA KINABALU, June 7 — Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) is totally committed to Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) and will remain loyal to the local political coalition, said its president Datuk Seri Maximus Ongkili.
The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah and Sarawak Affairs) said GRS’s political struggle, as expounded by its chairman Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor who is also chief minister at its launch last month, was not only noble and timeless but also based on the people.
He said PBS appreciated Parti Warisan’s (Warisan) interest to work with PBS in the coming 15th General Election (GE15), but the oldest multiracial party in Sabah chose to remain steadfast with GRS and the coalition’s struggle.
“PBS values Warisan’s political gesture and its president Datuk Mohd Seri Shafie Apdal to cooperate and collaborate for the upcoming general election. But as a local seasoned multiracial party, we are fully committed and totally loyal as a founding member of GRS and its partners.
“We invite Warisan and its supporters to subscribe to the same goals to truly develop Sabah and secure a prosperous and safe state, free from illegal foreigners,” he said in a statement today.
On May 11 last year, Mohd Shafie was reported as saying Warisan was keen to work with PBS in the spirit of championing the interests of Sabahans, and the Semporna MP repeated that stand yesterday, saying the party was willing to work with PBS in GE15.
Ongkili added that any respected local political party in Sabah can subscribe to GRS’s goals and aspirations without seeking to be a member of the GRS family.
He said the need for such political collaboration and partnership has never been so urgent, especially cooperation and solidarity in political unity, not only in Sabah but also with Sarawak as well.
“Let’s start afresh in our search for political unity as exemplified by the founding parties that helped in the formation of the nation back in 1963. Let us learn from previous lessons of unity first practised by the founding political parties of Sabah in the formation of Malaysia.
“Sabah First, Sayang Sabah and Sabah Bersatu ... those are the slogans we should all uphold,” said Ongkili. — Bernama
