KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 5 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today that Pakatan Harapan (PH) will continue to engage with Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) even as Barisan Nasional (BN) has declared that the two coalitions will go head-to-head in the upcoming Sabah state polls.
Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told reporters in Kota Kinabalu last night that talks between PH, BN, and GRS have reached an impasse, despite repeated attempts to reach an understanding.
“Zahid briefed me and said negotiations between the two seems to have met a dead end, but we pray there is still a window for a pact,” Anwar told reporters after performing Friday prayers at Masjid Jamek in Bandar Sri Petaling here.
“However, we respect BN‘s decision. PH will continue to engage with both BN and GRS,” he added.
Sabah Umno‘s decision to pull out of the tripartite talks comes after years of open enmity with top leaders of GRS, cementing a rivalry that shows no signs of abating, even as Umno and PH’s national leaders had tried to bring them together and push for a truce.
The four primary parties in Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) Kuamut are Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (Gagasan Rakyat), Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), Parti Solidariti Tanahair (STAR), and Usno.
In August, Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor of PGRS reiterated that the GRS Supreme Council has agreed to maintain its current formula of cooperation with PH for the upcoming state election.
