KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Barisan Nasional is not a secondary option in a political coalition, Sabah Umno information chief Datuk Suhaimi Nasir said.

Sabah Barisan is a team ready to lead this state, equipped with proven experience, a solid organisational structure, and real capacity,” he said in response to the announcement by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor that GRS and Pakatan have reached an agreement on a political electoral pact.

Suhaimi said that the ongoing political negotiations between Sabah Barisan and their partners in the Pakatan coalition were part of the preparation for the upcoming 17th Sabah state election.

“It is the result of strategic discussions aimed at ensuring long-term stability in the state. It is not a political lifeline for any party,” the Libaran MP said.

Hajiji, in announcing the electoral pact with Pakatan earlier Sunday (Jul 27), said GRS wants to continue its current working relationship with Pakatan, which came to their rescue when Sabah Barisan Nasional withdrew its support for GRS in January 2023.

He said the GRS state government survived because of the political lifeline provided by Sabah Pakatan assemblymen and allowed it to continue its mandate.

“Thank you a million times to the leaders of Pakatan Harapan Sabah from GRS,” he said in his keynote address at the opening of the Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (Gagasan Rakyat) annual general meeting.