TONGOD: The Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (Gagasan Rakyat) is confident that a good partnership with component parties in the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) and the Pakatan Harapan (PH) can bring success to the coalition in the upcoming State Elections.
The Chief Minister, who is also the President of Gagasan Rakyat, Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Hajiji Haji Noor, said that this confidence is also based on the increasing public acceptance of the party even though it has only been launched for about six months.
He said what is crucial now is to strengthen unity and organise the party machinery, as well as enhancing cooperation and unity of purpose with allied parties in the current state government.
“Therefore, I ask Gagasan Rakyat leaders in each division to properly organise the party machinery and ensure the party is strong before the State Assembly is dissolved.
“I am confident with the reception and our success in establishing thousands of branches and divisions throughout Sabah, coupled with cooperation with partners in GRS and also PH, God willing, we will succeed in the upcoming State Elections,” he said.
“What is important is to strengthen our unity, organise our party machinery, and also cooperate and be united in purpose with allied parties in the current state government,” he added.
He said these at the Launch Ceremony of the Gagasan Rakyat Division of Kuamut and the Annual Meeting 2023 of that Division at the Open Hall of the People’s Square in Tongod on Saturday.
Also present were the Vice President who is also the Chief of the Gagasan Rakyat Division of Kuamut, Datuk Masiung Banah and the Secretary-General of Gagasan Rakyat, Datuk Mohd Razali Razi.
Hajiji said that although Gagasan Rakyat receives good support from the people of this state, it still requires cooperation with other partners to govern and develop Sabah.
Meanwhile, he said the membership of Gagasan Rakyat, which now reaches about 300,000 across all 73 party divisions established since its launch on March 2, shows good public acceptance in Sabah.
“I am pleased that since the launch on March 2, we have received nearly 300,000 members with 73 divisions established according to the State Assembly areas and we are very pleased because all divisions have been successfully established.
“This shows that the party is well-received by our local people in Sabah and today we can see a reflection of the red shirt reception in the Kuamut area, with so many people making the division meeting and also the launch of this party successful,” he said.
Hajiji explained that Gagasan Rakyat was established due to the political instability or uncertainty in the country and in Sabah for several years now.
“If we talk about the overall history it indeed takes a long time but I want to state that this party was established to fulfil the aspirations of the local people of Sabah.
“They want us to fight in a local party, just like in Sarawak which prioritises their local parties. But this doesn’t mean that by using a local party we don’t want to cooperate with national parties,” he said.
He reiterated the stance of Gagasan Rakyat to continue cooperating and maintaining good relations with national parties and to meet the demands of the people who want a local party to govern this state.
