KOTA KINABALU: Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS) wants Sabah Barisan Nasional to go “solo” in the state as cooperation with Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) will only benefit Perikatan Nasional.

“PBRS believes that the alliance between Barisan and GRS will only give an advantage to Perikatan,” PBRS president Tan Sri Joseph Kurup said in a statement Saturday (Oct 15).

Kurup’s statement comes hours after Sabah Barisan chairman Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin said there will be no clash with GRS in the sharing of the 25 Parliament seats in the state on a 50:50 basis.

Kurup said that 99% of the PBRS divisions and its grassroots members were against an electoral pact between Barisan and GRS that is led by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor who leads Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia Sabah chapter.

Sabah Bersatu together with Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), Sabah STAR, Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) and Usno make up GRS.

Kurup said that PBRS fully supported Barisan chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s call that the coalition goes solo in the general election.

Though Sabah was not included in the national Barisan call, Kurup said that the state should be included in line with a memorandum that PBRS had sent to the leadership earlier.

“PBRS stands firm that Barisan should go solo in the coming election to maintain Barisan’s moderate stand on race and religion,” he added.

PBRS currently holds the Pensiangan parliamentary seat through Datuk Arthur Kurup. The party does not hold any state seats.

PBRS, the sole Kadazandusun-based local party in Barisan, has been eyeing six non-Muslim native seats to contest under its national alliance ticket.

It is understood that under current negotiations, the non-Muslim native seats were favoured to be given to GRS Kadazandusun based parties – PBS and Sabah STAR.

GRS parties, who have all endorsed the cooperation with the state Barisan, have also privately raised concerns about the sharing formula especially with non-Muslim native and mixed seats.

Both Ahmad Zahid and Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin have given the blessings for their respective parties to work together under the Barisan-GRS pact in Sabah.