Umno, BN seal exclusive pact with Harapan in Sabah, closing door to GRS

Summary

• Zahid confirms Umno-BN alliance exclusive with Harapan, closing doors on pre-election cooperation with GRS.

• Separate pacts seen as favourable to Harapan, which now won’t see direct clashes with BN, GRS. 

Umno president and BN chairperson Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has declared that the coalition’s alliance in Sabah will remain exclusively with Pakatan Harapan, effectively shutting out Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) from the equation.

The announcement, made in Kota Kinabalu after a closed-door meeting on Thursday night, ended speculations over whether there would be a three-way pact between BN, Harapan, and GRS.

Zahid’s statement also marked a shift from his earlier position of being open to electoral cooperation with other parties, while stressing that BN must retain a dominant role in any alliance.

“Umno and BN will remain with Harapan in the existing coalition,” Zahid said, adding that the decision had been endorsed by the Sabah Umno political bureau.

Sabah Umno chief Bung Moktar Radin had consistently rejected a pre-election alliance with GRS, citing “bitter experiences” and broken promises from past collaborations. 

He had, however, indicated that post-election arrangements with other political blocs, including GRS, could still be possible.

GRS-Umno tensions in Sabah

The announcement came less than three weeks after Zahid met with GRS chairperson Hajiji Noor and Harapan chairperson Anwar Ibrahim on Aug 18.

The rare meeting, held at Anwar’s office and publicised by the prime minister on Facebook, had fuelled speculation of wider cooperation.

Anwar described the talks as proof of growing cooperation between the federal and Sabah governments.

“This meeting reflects political maturity and a commitment to strengthening cooperation for national stability, particularly in the context of federal–state relations with Sabah,” Anwar said.

Even so, the political undertones of BN-GRS tensions remained evident.

GRS leaders declined to comment when approached after the meeting. Bung was also conspicuously absent when the discussions took place.

This highlights the ongoing friction between GRS and BN leaders in Sabah. The two coalitions had fallen out in early 2023.

While BN has framed its alliance with Harapan as exclusive, Harapan itself has taken a more flexible approach, continuing discussions with GRS.

GRS formally announced its partnership with Harapan in July, following BN and Harapan’s agreement in May.

This development was also seen as favourable to Harapan in the state election, where its two partners would not contest in their selected seats.

Instead, the election machinery for both GRS and BN would assist Harapan in winning their chosen seats.

With 73 seats in the state assembly, GRS has said it intends to contest 55, while BN is eyeing up to 30, paving the way for an inevitable clash between the two political giants in many constituencies.

Harapan had roughly announced plans to contest in 13. 

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