PLANS to form the Gabungan Bersatu Sabah (GBS) coalition by Sabah opposition leaders have hit a roadblock with the entry of Pakatan Harapan’s party, Bersatu. 

Bersatu’s entry has left a question mark over whether Sabah opposition members, who were previously with Sabah Umno, would rather join the peninsula-based party, said Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) president Maximus Ongkili.

PBS is one of the parties in GBS.

“As we all know, Bersatu is part of the Pakatan Harapan government. 

“It is still unclear whether our former Umno friends will be part of GBS. When GBS was mooted and when we sat down and signed the documents to form it (GBS), they were still under Umno. 

“Given that they all have left Umno, their status remains unclear,” Ongkili told reporters during the party’s Chap Goh Mei celebrations in Penampang, today. 

Ongkili noted that GBS was still a loose partnership of state opposition parties and is not a registered entity.

The Kota Marudu MP said PBS would continue to work with opposition ally, Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku, led by Keningau MP Jeffrey Kitingan. 

“We will move on our own and at this point we are not guided by GBS,” he said. 

On Warisan, which leads the state government, being unable to stop Bersatu from entering Sabah, Ongkili said there was nothing that could be done if a political party sets up their chapters in Sabah. 

PBS was also unable to stop the entry of Umno in the 1990s following the dissolution of United Sabah National Organisation. – February 19, 2019.