KOTA KINABALU: The Registrar of Societies (RoS) has approved the registration of Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) as an official coalition of political parties in the state, said GRS chairman Datuk Hajiji Noor.

The Sabah Chief Minister said the GRS received their certificate of approval from RoS on Friday (March 11) after submitting the application several weeks ago and the approval fulfilled the requests from all parties who wanted the coalition to be legally registered.

"This is a historic development, a new political alignment in Sabah and we hope that with this registration, we will further unite all the parties in the state.

"After the GRS registration is confirmed, the coalition of these parties will be used to develop Sabah. This is the suitable and best measure in the current political situation in Sabah," he told reporters here today.

Earlier, he attended the launching ceremony of Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat (KDM) at the Sabah Convention Centre here which was also attended by KDM president Datuk Peter Anthony.

Commenting on the KDM launch, Hajiji said the GRS welcomed the interest and intention of KDM to join the coalition.

Meanwhile, Peter said his party was ready to accept any views and remarks regarding its intention to join the GRS and would leave it entirely to the coalition to consider its participation.

"We have submitted the application letter to join (GRS) to Chief Minister Datuk Hajiji Noor, who is also the GRS chairman," he said, adding that it was time for a political truce to be implemented in Sabah so as to develop the state.

-- BERNAMA