Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS; English: Sabah People's Coalition) is a Malaysian coalition of Sabah-based parties. It was established in 2020 and then registered in 2022 by former United Alliance of Sabah (GBS) and United Borneo Alliance (UBA) component parties operating solely in Sabah inspired by the formula of Sarawak-based coalition, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS).
History
Foundation
On 12 September 2020, Hajiji Noor established an informal alliance named Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) to compete against Shafie Apdal's ruling Warisan Plus coalition consisting of Sabah Heritage Party (WARISAN), the Democratic Action Party (DAP), Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), and the United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (UPKO) during the 2020 Sabah state election. The GRS alliance consisted of Hajiji's Perikatan Nasional Sabah (PN) coalition, the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, and Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS).
During the Sabah state election held on 26 September, the alliance won a simple majority in the Sabah State Legislative Assembly, total of 38 seats: 17 from Perikatan Nasional, 14 from Barisan Nasional, and seven from PBS. Sabah Perikatan Nasional chairman Hajiji Noor became the new Chief Minister of Sabah on 29 September.
Under the new GRS administration, projects that had been stopped by the previous Sabah government were restarted and continued, including the Sabah Pan-Borneo Highway Project, Recognition project of Anjung Kinabalu KK Night Market and the development project of The Skybridge City Centre Kota Kinabalu.
On 9 January 2021, the various leaders of Gabungan Rakyat Sabah signed a memorandum of understanding affirming each party's commitment to the alliance, with chief minister Hajiji Noor maintaining that the alliance would remain intact regardless of the political situation on the peninsula.
Registration and expansion
On 24 November 2021, the alliance's backbenchers club chairperson Salleh Said Keruak floated the idea of registering Gabungan Rakyat Sabah as an official political coalition, arguing it was necessary as a means of strengthening the alliance. The proposal received the support of various party leaders, including Jeffrey Kitingan (STAR), Masidi Manjun (Sabah BERSATU), Yong Teck Lee (SAPP), Bung Mokhtar Radin (UMNO).
The alliance was officially registered and legalised by the Registrar of Societies on 11 March 2022, with Sabah BERSATU, PBS, STAR, and SAPP as its members.
On 9 May 2022, the United Sabah National Organisation (Baru) (USNO Baru) was admitted as a member of the coalition.
On 25 September 2022, GRS chairman Hajiji Noor announced that the coalition would support Barisan Nasional candidates in the upcoming 2022 Malaysian general election, contrary to Perikatan Nasional, of which both Sabah BERSATU and STAR was a member, which had declared Barisan as its main enemy.
Mass defections from Sabah BERSATU
Malaysian United Indigenous Party Sabah, the regional branch of the Malaysian United Indigenous Party, otherwise known as BERSATU, effectively collapsed when all eleven state legislative assemblymen including the party's state chairman Hajiji Noor, and four members of parliament left the party on 10 December 2022. Rumours surfaced that the former members of Sabah BERSATU would take over Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (GAGASAN), which came to pass as Hajiji Noor took over the party on 29 January 2023, with the party itself having been admitted into the coalition earlier on 9 December.
Political analysts regarded Hajiji Noor's decision to leave Sabah BERSATU as a shrewd, with Romzi Ationg commenting that the transformation of the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah coalition into a purely Sabah-based entity had been long awaited by the local population.
However, as a result of the parliamentary anti-hopping law, the four former Sabah BERSATU members of parliament could not join Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah. They instead became direct members of the coalition.
Member parties
Parliament seats (Sabah)
State seats (Sabah)
Former member parties
- Malaysian United Indigenous Party of Sabah (Sabah BERSATU) (2020–2022)
List of leaders
Chairman
"(..)" in the number section refers to the same leader appointed after the special meeting of the coalition.
Leadership structure
GRS Leadership official structure
Elected representatives
Dewan Negara (Senate)
Senators
Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives)
Members of Parliament of the 15th Malaysian Parliament
Gabungan Rakyat Sabah Party has 6 MPs in the House of Representatives.
Dewan Undangan Negeri (State Legislative Assembly)
Malaysian State Assembly Representatives
Sabah State Legislative Assembly
Ministerial posts
Parliamentary general election results
State legislative assembly general election results
GRS Party state governments
Notes
References
