Bersatu leadership in Sabah announces party exit: Hajiji

KOTA KINABALU – Sabah Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) leadership today announce their exit from the party.

The announcement was made by Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) chairman Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor after considering the state of the country's current political landscape.

"Today, we have unanimously decided to exit and leave Bersatu. We made this decision after considering the current state of Malaysia's political landscape, especially in Sabah.

"The state government held by GRS-BN has also taken into account the advice of His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong that the best consideration for the formation of the Federal Unity Government led by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, one of which is for political stability and economic recovery," he said in a statement on Saturday.

Hajiji, who is also Sabah Chief Minister, said that the unanimous decision was in the interest of Sabah, unity and to fulfill the wishes and aspirations of the people to keep fighting under the auspices of a local party.

"The Sabah Bersatu leadership's decision to leave Bersatu is on the basis that it can no longer be defended to remain the status quo.

"This is because at the federal level, Bersatu is the opposition while GRS has pledged to support the Unity Government led by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

"Sabah wants political stability and unity. We want to ensure the momentum in Sabah's growth and development and see Sabah prosper in line with the mandate given to us in the last election," he explained.

Following that, he said, a new local party would be established, but collectively, they would be members of GRS.

"Going forward, we will establish a new local party, yet for the time being, we will collectively be members of the GRS.

"With this decision, we will use GRS to voice the interests of Sabah and the states of Borneo in Malaysia.

"We believe this decision is the best for unity and political stability in Sabah," he said.

Hajiji meanwhile also pledged that they would give full support to the Unity Government and are confident in the leadership and wisdom of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to lead the country.

"The direction of Sabah Maju Jaya that is implemented is also to ensure the recovery of Sabah's economy and unity among the people continues.

"It is our commitment with Sarawak as the Borneo Bloc to voice the aspirations of the people and to see that the Malaysia Agreement 1963 or MA63 will be fully implemented," he said.

In that regard, he also thanked Bersatu president and Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for his leadership throughout his tenure as a member of the party.