SANDAKAN: Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (PGRS) is urgently calling to be nominated as the candidate for the Sekong state seat to ensure Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) wins it in the upcoming 17th State Election.
The party’s vice President, Datuk Masiung Banah, asserted that PGRS is the most viable choice within the coalition to capture the seat from Warisan.
He based this on extensive research and multiple visits to the constituency, which revealed that PGRS enjoys approximately 68 percent support among voters—significantly higher than other parties within the GRS and Pakatan Harapan (PH) alliances.
“I am confident that PGRS has the strongest potential to win the area and reclaim the Sekong seat from Warisan,” Masiung said after visiting the party’s Sekong ‘War Room’ on Saturday.
Masiung, who is also the PGRS Zone 10 chairman, stated that the party, led by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Hajiji Noor, has become the preferred choice for a diverse cross-section of the Sekong electorate.
The Kuamut Assemblyman highlighted that feedback from all seven Polling District Centres (PDM) in Sekong consistently shows PGRS, as the backbone of GRS, has a dominant presence. Party statistics indicate it is far ahead of any other potential contenders for the seat.
However, he expressed caution regarding the participation of other GRS and PH component parties in East Coast seats, warning that their involvement could split the vote.
“The insights from independent entities and intelligence from the political intelligence units must be carefully considered. Failure to do so could jeopardize GRS’s chances in Sekong in this election,” he added.
Masiung was accompanied during the visit by Karamunting Assemblyman Datuk George Hiew, who serves as Zone 10 deputy chairman.
Echoing Masiung’s confidence, Hiew pointed to PGRS’s strong grassroots network of over 300 branches in Sekong as evidence that the Warisan-held seat is winnable.
He suggested that the role of other GRS and PH parties should be to bolster PGRS’s campaign in the area rather than contest the seat directly.
Both leaders are optimistic that the opposition seat can be secured, but only if GRS entrusts the candidacy to PGRS. – James Leong
