KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Pakatan Harapan is ready for a bipartisan cooperation with the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) state government but wants to draw up clear guidelines on their working relationship.
Leaders of the four-party opposition coalition said they were ready to work for bipartisan cooperation in line with the federal memorandum of understanding signed by the government and the national opposition Pakatan.
Sabah Pakatan leaders have also agreed to form a special committee among themselves to work out issues that need to be tackled as well as propose redevelopment strategies for the state.
They will then submit their proposal to the state government as part of their step towards bipartisan cooperation with the GRS government led by Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
The leaders – Sabah PKR chairman Datuk Christina Liew, Sabah DAP chairman Datuk Poon Ming Fung, Sabah Amanah head Lahirul Latigu and Upko president Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau – said they were ready to work on a framework towards rehabilitation and redevelopment of the state.
“This includes an agenda for democratic reform and good governance at the state level,” they said in a joint statement yesterday following a meeting on Saturday night.
The state opposition leaders said they were ready to cooperate for the stability of the state, especially after the country had seen three prime ministers within 24 months and more recently, the collapse of the Melaka government.
“Sabah Pakatan believes political stability in Sabah will also be jeopardised if the same thing spreads to the state government,” they said.
They added that it was no longer a matter of politics but the general interests of the people of Sabah.
“All existing resources should be used to treat, recover and redevelop the effects of the crisis as a result of this pandemic,” the leaders said.
They also criticised the GRS government for “relying fully on the Covid-19 vaccination programme to create herd immunity as its key focus in economic recovery”.
“The government cannot rely solely on the vaccination programme without formulating and implementing strategies for subsequent redevelopment,” they said.
The leaders said the public health rehabilitation strategy must be followed by immediate plans for economic and infrastructure redevelopment in the state.
Sabah Pakatan has nine assemblymen in the current 78-member Sabah assembly while the main state opposition Parti Warisan Sabah holds 20 seats.
The 10-party GRS has 49 seats including those held by Indepen-dents supporting the ruling coalition.
Meanwhile, barely a few hours after the joint statement was issued, Liew said that any conclusion to the mutual agreement on the terms of bipartisan cooperation with the government would be announced at the right time.
“I hope this clears the confusion over premature media reports on the matter,” she said in a statement.
Liew added that they had started discussion on the proposed MOU about a month ago.
“All component parties have been actively involved in the discussion under the umbrella of Sabah Agenda Reform.
“Other pertinent issues covered are related to Sabah’s constitutional rights including the Malaysia Agreement 1963,” she said.
Liew explained that she was unable to chair the meeting on Saturday night and was represented by Sabah Pakatan secretary Mustapha Sakmud. She had to undergo a minor surgery after suffering a bad fall during a visit to Tawau for a food basket assistance programme recently.
Sabah Pakatan is a former coalition partner with Warisan, which has kept out of the bipartisan agreement at the federal level and is understood to be staying out at the state level too.