KOTA KINABALU - Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal wants a coalition of local parties as Sarawak has done to benefit the people in Sabah.
He said the combination of local and national parties has made it difficult for Sabah's voice to be raised as it was tied to their respective parties.
"Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) is backed by Bersatu from Kuala Lumpur.
"If there are coalitions like this, they follow the voice from Kuala Lumpur," he said in a press conference at the Warisan headquarters in Kolombong, here, today.
He said after Parti Bersatu Sabah's (PBS) statement that it would remain loyal to GRS and has declined to cooperate with Warisan.
The former Sabah Chief Minister also said there is no compulsion for PBS to work with Warisan even though the party has long been seen as a potential political partner.
"We state our intentions, if they state theirs (to reject cooperation) we can't force them as we want to join hands with local (Sabahan) parties.
"If that's what they want, it's up to them. We know that among the component parties, we can cooperate with United Sabah National Organisation (USNO) and PBS," Shafie added.