Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) has confirmed that Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR) and the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) are no longer components of the coalition after both parties insisted on contesting the upcoming state election under their own banners.
GRS secretary-general Masidi Manjun said the outcome followed nearly two hours of deliberation at the coalition’s presidential council meeting, chaired by GRS chairman and Sabah chief minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
Decision and rationale
Masidi said STAR and SAPP made it clear at the meeting that they would field candidates under their respective party emblems and were unwilling to be bound by the seat-allocation formula finalised between GRS and Pakatan Harapan (PH).
“STAR and SAPP said their decision was final and that it was because they did not want to be tied down by the seat distribution finalised between GRS and PH,” Masidi said in a statement.
He added that Hajiji had reminded all component parties of the prior agreement with PH and stressed the importance of contesting as a united bloc, with all candidates running under the GRS banner. After open and sincere discussions, the council resolved that any component choosing to use its own emblem would be deemed to have left GRS and its candidates would not represent the coalition in the state election.
“With that, their GRS memberships are terminated,” Masidi said.
Reactions and immediate implications
STAR president Jeffrey Kitingan confirmed to The Star that he had informed the presidential council of his party’s decision during the meeting at the chief minister’s official residence in Sri Gaya and that an official announcement would be made imminently. STAR has six assemblymen, including Kitingan.
When asked whether Kitingan would cease to serve as a deputy chief minister, Masidi said that decision rested with Hajiji.
Reports from the meeting indicate that some GRS components — including Hajiji, Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah leaders, Usno and Parti Cinta Sabah representatives — did not object to cooperation with PH. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah (PHRS) were reported to back the alliance while expressing a preference for GRS to contest on its own. By contrast, Kitingan and SAPP president Yong Teck Lee remained adamant that GRS should go solo or, at the very least, limit any power-sharing to a small number of seats.
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