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Kota Kinabalu: Sabah Pakatan Harapan (PH) is open to the idea of contesting under the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) logo if it was working together in the upcoming state election, said Sabah Pakatan Harapan Chief Datuk Christina Liew.

She said the party was open to any ideas and working with anybody, but it would not make its final decision until the coalition meets to discuss the proposal.

“We would consider any and all options, but this is on a party-to-party basis and subject to discussion. We have to consider everything and come up with the best solution. We have to work together for a winning chance,” she said.

However, she pointed out that her own Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) had stuck to using its own logo in past elections when it was still working alongside Parti Warisan.

“But to me, it is too early for PH to consider this. We are working with everybody to provide services to rakyat.

“In my constituency of Api Api, we have various parties supporting our efforts and we serve everybody. That is our main priority now,” she said.

Liew, who is also State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister, said the current GRS-PH alliance in the State Government was working well together and it would be in the State’s best interest to continue.

“I would like to support the Chief Minister in that we want stability so we can focus on economic growth for the State and Federal governments.

“We want all sectors, including the industrial and tourism, to continue growing and we need good governance and stability for this,” she added.

On proposals for national parties to sit out the state elections, she said a combination of state and national parties was a winning combination that would boost all participating parties’ capabilities.

“I do not see why. Working together would help the State reach higher. Now GRS has ministers at the federal level, so we can present more views.

“The whole point of an election is to choose your representative and who can service you better. Why do you have to reject a candidate just because they are from PKR? You vote for the candidate that can give you the best service,” she said.

The next state election is due by September 2025. The current ruling parties are GRS and PH after Umno pulled their support from GRS in January 2023.

However, the battlelines are somewhat unclear as the federal Unity Government, headed by PH and Umno, have previously said they would like their Sabah counterparts to follow suit.

Meanwhile, Sabah Star President Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan stayed coy over the possibility of the GRS forging an electoral pact with Sabah PH in the next state election.

“Nothing has been finalised yet,” Jeffrey said when asked about GRS Chairman Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor’s preference for a GRS-Sabah Pakatan electoral pact formula in the coming state polls.

Speaking to reporters after launching the Ikan Rakyat programme at Padang Merdeka, the Deputy Chief Minister I said currently GRS is working with Sabah Pakatan in administering the State Government led by Hajiji, the Chief Minister.

In Kota Belud on Sunday (Sept 1), Hajiji expressed his confidence that the GRS-Pakatan Harapan Plus collaboration would be a winning formula in the election, as it was well accepted by the people and appropriate under the current political situation.

Jeffrey said Sabah Star, as a member of the GRS coalition, is currently working with Sabah Pakatan, and therefore there was nothing wrong with Hajiji’s statement about the possible cooperation.

Jeffrey did not elaborate further on the potential GRS electoral pact with Sabah Pakatan in the state election due anytime by Sept next year.

Sabah Star, together with the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) led by Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee and Usno led by Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia, has been pushing for the eight-party GRS to go it alone in the coming election.

Other GRS coalition partners - Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah (Harapan Rakyat) and Parti Cinta Sabah (PCS) - have not made their stand public on the possibility of an electoral pact with Pakatan.