Kota Kinabalu: Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) Secretary-General Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said it takes time for the GRS-Pakatan Harapan (PH) State Government, which is just nine months old, to make adjustments, including in terms of distribution of posts under the new political alignment.
He said it must be understood that the Government cannot arbitrarily terminate current positions.
“Some of them serve on contract, while some serve for a period of two years. They also have family commitments and so on...
“But, I can guarantee that from time to time we will make adjustments without marginalising those who are currently holding positions.
“So, give us time. Adjustments will be made from time to time. What I am saying is that we cannot simply terminate people just to accommodate new ones.
“While we accept the fact that they need to be accommodated, we need to be more humane in the way we manage people who are currently holding jobs...so my answer is to give time to make adjustments and be patient,” he said.
Masidi was commenting on the post distribution issue at the grassroots level between GRS and PH raised by Upko President Datuk Ewon Benedick recently who asked for it to be distributed equally.
Masidi said: “Still, let me put it this way, we cannot accommodate everyone because there is a limited number of posts in the Government, so we have to learn to get less than what we are used to having.
“You will be surprised that even in Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (Gagasan Rakyat) there are also a lot of people complaining they are not getting the posts promised to them in some constituencies.
“But we are not complaining. We are only saying perhaps, after the next election, it would be easier to make adjustments.”
Calling for power sharing in the appointment of grassroots leaders in Sabah by Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) and Pakatan Harapan assemblymen, Ewon claimed that some Upko members were unhappy with the purportedly unbalanced appointment of grassroots leaders, especially in constituencies not represented by PH.
He said the cooperation between GRS and Sabah PH should translate into power sharing, starting with the appointment of every district’s “ketua adat”.
Upko is a coalition partner in PH, together with PKR, DAP and Amanah.
Ewon said he has implemented a “60:40 power-sharing formula” in his Kadamaian state constituency.
“In Kadamaian, 60pc of appointments are made by my party and PH, with the rest coming from GRS. I hope this power-sharing formula can serve as an example for assemblymen of other constituencies, because without the support of PH assemblymen, the current government in Sabah would not have been sustained.
“If I can do it, there is no reason why assemblymen in other constituencies cannot share with the parties supporting the State Government,” said Ewon.
Ewon added that he will convey Upko’s stand on the matter to Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
