THE opposition in Sabah will form a new coalition government called Gabungan Rakyat Sabah if it wins the 16th state elections, which begin today, said Muhyiddin Yassin.

“Perikatan Nasional or Barisan Nasional or PBS cannot form the Sabah government by itself even if they win all their seats. As such, it has to band together to win the state,” the prime minister said at the Bersatu office in Sulaman today.

“Our desire is to change the government from Warisan to Perikatan and its allies,” said Muhyiddin.

BN and PBS are allies of the PN-led federal government, but are going into the Sabah polls on September 26 as separate entities.

The compromise to name the group of parties Gabungan Rakyat Sabah was made last night after a meeting in Kota Kinabalu, he said.

“We decided to name our coalition Gabungan Rakyat Sabah after a meeting with all the parties,” said the Bersatu president.

He said this to supporters ahead of Sabah Bersatu chief Hajiji Noor filing his nomination papers for the Sulaman state seat.

Also present was Umno Supreme Council member Rahman Dahlan.

The opposition in Sabah currently consists of PN, BN, STAR, PBRS and PBS while the Warisan Plus coalition consists of Warisan Sabah, Pakatan Harapan and Upko.

Warisan Plus is led by caretaker chief minister Shafie Apdal while the opposition has not named its chief minister candidate.

The state elections begin today with nominations. According to the Election Commission, there are 1.12 million eligible voters.

The state assembly was dissolved last month after 13 assemblymen quit the Warisan government to join BN and PN. – September 12, 2020.