Rename Sabah govt as GRS-BN, says Bung Moktar
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KOTA KINABALU, March 25 — Sabah Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin wants the state government to be referred to as the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah-Barisan Nasional (GRS-BN) government.
This is because BN is part of the state government, said the deputy chief minister.
“Recently the chief minister announced the setting up of the GRS coalition with four parties as members, namely Bersatu Sabah, PBS, SAPP and Sabah STAR. This means that there is a change in the government that is known as GRS.
“We are now asking that the state government be renamed as the GRS-BN government because it is not fair not to mention BN as we are part of the government,” said Bung Moktar.
Speaking to reporters after handing over dates to Umno Sabah division leaders here today, the Umno Sabah chief said that the renaming of the government had yet to be officially submitted to Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor although they have talked about it.
To a question why BN is not part of the GRS coalition, Bung Moktar explained that BN is already a coalition and therefore cannot be a member of another one.
“It would make BN irrelevant,” he said, adding that this matter had been informed to GRS before it was registered.
On Parti Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal’s statement about the party looking for smart partnership and cannot rule out the possibility of working with Umno in the coming general election, Bung Moktar described politics as “survival and dynamic”.
“Nothing is impossible but we have to go for the right way because now the public is also judging us, so if we make a wrong move, it will be wrong. In politics nothing is impossible, that has been my stand from the beginning.
“According to Shafie, he does not mind negotiating with anybody. I agree with that because politics is alive and if we implement a closed door approach, that is not politics,” he said.
When asked if BN Sabah is also open to the idea of working with other parties, Bung Moktar said, “we are open but our priority is to discuss with GRS.”
On the 15th general election, Bung Moktar said Umno Sabah will discuss with component parties in GRS as to what their halatuju (direction) would be for the election.
Umno Sabah, he stressed, does not have autonomy in the matter of the 15th general election so he will be meeting party president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi next Monday to obtain opinions as to how Umno Sabah and BN Sabah can implement their responsibilities in the election.
“After that (the meeting) then we will decide on the best step to take for the 15th general election,” he said.
Still on the general election, Bung Moktar said that they will make sure that candidates this time will be those who are chosen by the rakyat.
He explained, “we cannot put a candidate that the party wants, it must be the rakyat’s choice of who they think is a winnable candidate.” — Borneo Post Online