'Hurtful' GRS seat offer derailed alliance talks, says Sabah Umno leader

Gabungan Rakyat Sabah’s offer for Umno to contest only eight seats in the upcoming 17th Sabah election was deemed “deeply hurtful,” eventually derailing their negotiations to form an alliance, said Sabah Umno treasurer Salleh Said Keruak.

In a Facebook post today, Salleh (above) explained that negotiations with GRS became difficult when BN was only offered eight seats, despite Umno being an incumbent in 14 seats from its victories in the previous state election.

“The basis of seat negotiations is clear – seats won in the last state election remain with the original party (incumbency rule).

“If there are overlaps and exchanges, they must be resolved through mutual agreement (swap rule). This principle is fair and logical.

“But apparently, a senior leader from a GRS component party remarked that eight seats were already seen as ‘too many’ for BN.

“Such statements are deeply hurtful, as they appear to disregard BN, alongside denying our contributions and existing support in Sabah,” he said.

The Umno leader also reiterated that BN remains firm in its decision not to agree with proposals that are unfair and disadvantageous – a stance consistent with Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s emphasis that BN would not compromise if the fundamental basis of an alliance is not respected.

Salleh also drew comparisons between BN’s previous negotiations with Pakatan Harapan, describing the outcome as a smooth process where the coalitions continue to cooperate under the coalition government.

“⁠Truthfully, BN has always remained open to discussions with anyone, through the spirit of consensus, and by always prioritising the interests of Sabah, above all else,” he lamented.

Umno sticks to decision

Yesterday, Zahid confirmed that Umno-BN would exclusively cooperate with Harapan for the upcoming Sabah polls, thus rejecting all possibilities for pre-election cooperation with GRS.

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.

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

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.

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

Harapan’s flexibility

Anwar previously mentioned that the priority in the negotiations was to avoid three-cornered fights that could split the government bloc and confuse Sabah voters.

However, in response to Zahid’s latest announcement, the prime minister stated that he respected BN’s decision not to cooperate with GRS.

Nevertheless, he emphasised that Harapan was not caught in the middle by the decision and would continue discussions to find a solution.

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

In July, GRS formally announced its partnership with Harapan, a development viewed as favourable to Harapan in the upcoming state election, where its two partners would not contest in their selected seats.

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

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