KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah chapter of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) is intact amid political whispers that some of its elected representatives might 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 who were worried about the establishment of the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) coalition.

       Masidi noted that names being spread on social media involving Sabah Bersatu personalities were those strongly in support of the registration of GRS, which was formally registered two weeks ago.

       "To my knowledge, they (those names being mentioned) are some of the strongest proponents of GRS. Perhaps those spreading rumours felt threatened by GRS," he said Sunday (March 20) when asked about the speculation.

       The four-party GRS, headed by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, who is Sabah Bersatu chairman, also includes Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), Sabah STAR and Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP). The coalition's registration was officially announced on Friday (March 18).

       "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 party and join any other parties or form a new one," Masidi, who is GRS secretary-general, said when asked if there were any moves by some (Sabah Bersatu) assemblymen to start up a new party.

       Political chatter claimed that some Sabah Bersatu assemblymen were planning to return to Umno, especially after the Melaka and Johor state election results that saw Bersatu faring poorly.

       Masidi said that by being a member of GRS, Sabah Bersatu was localised.

       "By implication, GRS has already 'localised' Sabah Bersatu," he said when asked if there were plans to localise Sabah Bersatu.

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

       "Nothing has changed, Sabah Bersatu has been given lots of leeway to operate on its own since day one. The headquarters acknowledges that Sabah Bersatu knows the ground better and should be allowed to operate in its way with minimum supervision from the Centre.

       "And their confidence has been proven to be well-founded as Sabah Bersatu is now the biggest (in terms of membership and number of branches) Bersatu chapter in the whole country," he added.

       GRS currently has 31 of the 78 state assembly seats from the four parties under the coalition, while it is allied with 21 assemblymen from Sabah Umno-Barisan (16 seats), Parti KDM (two seats), PAS (one seat) and two Independents who did not come under the coalition's umbrella.

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

       Bersatu spread its wings to Sabah in April 2019 when it took in Sabah Umno leaders, assemblymen and MPs that crippled Umno in Sabah and also saw Bung take over the state party's helm.

       Following the fall of the national Pakatan Harapan government in early 2020, Bersatu, together with Umno and other local parties, forged the GRS coalition to take over the state government in a snap election in September 2020.

       Shafie called for the snap elections when former Barisan chief minister Tan Sri Musa Aman attempted to take back the state government through a spate of defections in July 2020.