adminKOTA KINABALU: Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) is focusing on its strategy to defend its State Legislative Assembly (DUN) seats and target victory in the potentially bright Parliamentary seats in the upcoming General Election (GE).
Secretary-General Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali said the strategy was important to ensure that support for GRS could not only be maintained in areas that had shown good performance, but also expanded to other parliamentary constituencies.
“On paper, GRS has the potential to win between 14 and 15 parliamentary seats in Sabah. However, that number is not the final target because GRS wants to obtain a larger number of seats to strengthen Sabah’s voice at the Federal level,” he said here today.
He said this to reporters after attending a meeting of the GRS Supreme Council members chaired by GRS Chairman Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, who is also the Chief Minister of Sabah.
Commenting further, Armizan said the coalition’s strategy was also guided by lessons and experiences from previous State Elections (PRN), particularly in fielding candidates who had a high chance of winning.
GRS consists of six component parties, namely the Sabah People’s Idea Party (PGRS), Sabah United Party (PBS), Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Sabah People’s Hope Party (PHRS), Sabah Love Party (PCS) and the United Progressive Kinabalu Organization (UPKO).
The coalition currently has seven parliamentary seats, namely Tuaran, Penampang, Papar, Sipitang, Ranau, Batu Sapi and Tawau.
Armizan also said the coalition would hold a GRS Convention on Oct 18 at the Tun Mustapha Hall, Kudat, which was expected to be attended by approximately 2,500 delegates from the six GRS coalition parties.
He said one of the main focuses of the convention was to discuss GRS’ achievements after becoming the government, giving each minister the opportunity to present the direction of their respective ministries.
“The core of this convention is two-pronged, not just discussing the political agenda but also the people as a whole,” he said.
Regarding the meeting, Armizan said the meeting agenda also included discussions on the 2027 State Budget while Hajiji would provide space for each party to provide suggestions for consideration before being included in the budget.
He said written views and budget aspirations could also be submitted to state Finance Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun.
— BERNAMA
