THE Gerakan Rakyat Sabah (GRS)-Barisan Nasional (BN) unity government in the state is no longer stable as both coalitions are pitting their candidates against each other, Upko leader Ewon Benedick said.

He questioned whether GRS and the Sabah Umno-led BN administration could still govern the state after their candidates are going for the same seats in the national polls, media in Sabah reported.

“How can they administer a stable government if on nomination day they already look unstable?” he was quoted as saying by the media. 

GRS is a local political coalition in Sabah with Sabah Bersatu in the lead, and joined by four local parties namely PBS, SAPP, Star, and Usno.

SAPP and Star are also members of the PN coalition at the federal level. 

Yesterday, Bersatu vice-president Ronald Kiandee, who was not nominated to run for the GRS-BN alliance, was nominated on the PN ticket to defend the Beluran parliamentary seat. The seat is also being contested by BN candidate Benedict Asmat.

Kiandee, a former agriculture minister in Putrajaya, won Beluran in 2018 on a BN ticket. He left Umno in December 2018 to join Bersatu.

Meanwhile, Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS), a component of BN, fielded Ewon Ebin to contest in Ranau, challenging GRS candidate from Bersatu Jonathan Yasin.

Ewon, who campaigned in Penampang as a Pakatan Harapan candidate, urged voters to take this confusion into account when voting to ensure the government they elected is stable. – November 6, 2022.