KOTA KINABALU: Sabah's Upko welcomes newly-appointed Prime Minister Datuk Ismail Sabri Yaakob's offer to work with the Opposition.

       In a tweet, Upko president Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau said: "On behalf of UPKOMalaysia, I welcome @IsmailSabri's the new PM assurance to work with opposition for the sake of stability thru new politics as directed by Tuanku (the King)."

       Madius, who is Tuaran MP, has been pushing for bipartisan politics since last year as an effort to overcome the country's Covid-19 pandemic and also resolve economic issues.

       Earlier on Sunday (Aug 22), Madius told reporters that he had filed a motion in Parliament for the setting up of a Federal-State Council for Public Health and Economy.

       He said he hoped that the government under Ismail Sabri would allow the motion to be debated when Parliament sits from Sept 6.

       He said the move was to create a "Team Malaysia" working together to gain public confidence through a council tackling a wide-ranging number of issues from the Covid-19 pandemic.