KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor has not ruled out the possibility of Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) boosting its ties with Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) Sabah to strengthen the state government.
He said that this was not impossible, especially since there are BN and Umno representatives in the state government holding ministerial, assistant ministerial, and statutory body or government-linked company (GLC) positions.
Hajiji said that although some BN and Umno leaders considered themselves as part of the opposition, his government continued to retain some of their leaders.
He said that this was why his administration was now referred to as the GRS-Pakatan Harapan (PH) Sabah Plus government, reflecting the presence of PH, Umno and BN leaders.
"We are in the GRS coalition. But within the government, we have PH and also 'Plus' as there are BN and Umno representatives supporting the state government.
"Umno/BN are part of the state government now; this is the uniqueness of Sabah. They have a minister, Shahelmey (referring to Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Shahelmey Yahya), even though he is suspended (from Umno).
"Additionally, three Umno/BN assistant ministers remain in the state government, along with many chairpersons of statutory bodies and GLCs," he said after chairing the Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (Gagasan Rakyat) Supreme Council meeting here today.
The three assistant ministers representing Umno and BN in the state cabinet are Datuk Andy Muhammad Suryady Bandy (industrial development and entrepreneurship), Datuk Mohd Hamsan Awang Supain (local government and housing) and Datuk Harun Durabi (science, technology and innovation).
Hajiji, who is also GRS chairman, said this situation was desired by the state government in order to maintain unity and stability to develop Sabah.
"This is what we (the state government) want. Let's avoid disputes. We want to ensure that we develop the state together and ensure that the unity of people from various races continues to benefit us all," he said.
Meanwhile, Hajiji, who is also Gagasan Rakyat president, said the GRS component party had nearly 300,000 members and was expected to exceed this number before its annual general meeting in November.
He said the party would begin its divisional meetings from Aug 17 until the end of September, while branch-level meetings have already been held.