KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah chapter of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia is intact amid whispers that some of its elected representatives may be leaving the party to chart their own political course.

       Sabah Bersatu deputy chairman Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun brushed aside such talk sparked by groups that were worried about the establishment of the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) coalition led by his party.

       He noted that names of Sabah Bersatu personalities being bandied about on social media were those strongly in support of GRS.

       “To my knowledge, they are some of the strongest proponents of GRS. Perhaps those spreading rumours feel threatened by GRS,” he said yesterday.

       GRS, headed by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor who is Sabah Bersatu chairman, includes Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), Sabah STAR and Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP). Its formal registration was officially announced on Friday.

       “A new party is being formed practically every other month in Malaysia.

       “Apparently, Malaysians not only like to party but also to form parties.

       “This a democratic country; people are free to leave their existing parties to join others, or form a new one,” Masidi, who is GRS secretary-general, said to a question of whether there were any plans by Sabah Bersatu assemblymen to set up a new party.

       Political chatter claims that some Sabah Bersatu assemblymen were planning to return to Umno, especially after Bersatu’s poor performance in the Melaka and Johor elections.

       Other talk has it that assemblymen are looking at starting a new Sabah-based party within GRS.

       Masidi, who is a state minister, said Sabah Bersatu, being a member of GRS, was localised.

       “By implication, GRS has localised Sabah Bersatu,” he said.

       He reiterated that Sabah Bersatu had always operated with a high degree of autonomy.

       “Sabah Bersatu is now the biggest (in terms of membership and number of branches) Bersatu chapter in the country,” he added.

       GRS currently has 31 of the 78 state assemblymen from the four parties under the coalition while its allies with 21 assemblymen comprise Sabah Umno-Barisan Nasional (16 seats), Parti KDM (two), PAS (one) and two Independents who do not come under the coalition’s umbrella.

       Sabah Umno chairman Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin has said Umno would continue to work with GRS, a loose coalition of nine parties that toppled the Warisan Plus government led by Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal in the 2020 snap state election.