Usno, SAPP, STAR want GRS to contest all seats

KOTA KINABALU (Aug 27): Usno President Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia reiterated that Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) should contest all the 73 seats in the coming state election.

He said that the opinion is shared by two fellow components of GRS, namely SAPP and Sabah STAR.

“We have seven components in GRS and so far, three political parties which are my party, Usno, SAPP and Sabah STAR have openly said we want GRS to contest in all 73 seats.

“This means that we don’t want the West Malaysian party(s) to contest. That is the stand of these three political parties,” he said, adding that the other four parties, LDP, PCS, Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah including PGRS which is helmed by the Chief Minister have not made their stand on the matter openly.

Pandikar who was met at his office in Tanjung Aru Eco Development (TAED) on Tuesday, said this when asked about the seat allocation for the state election.

When asked if the coalition of local parties could win the majority and form the government, he said that there is nothing definite in politics as the result of an election depended on the sentiments of the rakyat.

“What is the feeling of Sabahans? Do they want Sabah politics to be like Sarawak? If they want to be like Sarawak, then we have got to roll our sleeves and bravely tell our comrades in Peninsular Malaysia to not contest in Sabah,” he said.

According to Pandikar, this issue would be raised and discussed at the GRS meeting when it is called for.

He added that the sentiment on the ground is that Sabah is still far behind in terms of infrastructure development even though it was governed by a Peninsular-based party.

“We still have the basic problems with the infrastructure like roads, water and electricity. So why not try a new thing,” he said.

He opined that there would not be any issue with peninsular-based parties not contesting in the state elections of Sabah and Sarawak because at the end of the day, the governments of the two states will still support whoever will be the Prime Minister.

“So if you need Sabah, you treat the Sabahans like a friend,” he said.

He also stressed that the federal government must pay Sabah the 40 per cent revenue owed to it because it is one of the conditions of the agreement on the formation of Malaysia.