KOTA KINABALU: The identity of the new Sabah Chief Minister of the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah-led state government will be announced later today.
Sabah Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor said the announcement would be made together with its allies before the swearing-in ceremony.
"I thank the people of Sabah for giving their trust to GRS. This proves that the people of Sabah understand the need for a change in the state.
"Insya Allah, (the people's) hopes will be fulfilled by a GRS state government which will soon be established," he told a press conference here.
Asked whether the new Chief Minister would be from PN, Hajiji, who won the Sulaman seat, declined to reveal details and asked reporters to wait for the announcement.
To a question of whether the issue of the Chief Minister was discussed with Barisan Nasional (BN)-Umno, Hajiji, who is also the Sabah Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia chief, simply replied that they "have enough numbers."
He also explained that the reason why the press conference was not held with its BN-Umno allies was due to most of the representatives still being outstation.
"So, we will wait and do the announcement together," he said.
Prior to the press conference, Datuk Rubin Balang, an independent candidate who won the Kemabong seat, turned up at the event and announced his support for Perikatan Nasional (PN).
In the 16th state election yesterday, GRS secured 38 seats, with PN winning 17 seats, BN obtaining 14 seats, and Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) getting 7 seats.
Sources indicated that there was some dissatisfaction from the BN-Umno camp on the choice of the Chief Minister candidate. PBS is understood to be the kingmaker in resolving the issue.
Despite rumours of possible switches in allegiances, nothing to the effect has materialised so far.
Meanwhile, Warisan Plus secured 32 seats with Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) getting 29 seats, PKR winning 2 seats, and United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (Upko) obtaining one seat.
Of the 29 seats won under the Warisan banner, 6 seats are held by DAP.
Apart from Rubin Balang, the state election also saw two independent candidates scoring wins, namely in Pitas (Ruddy Awah); and Kuamut (Datuk Masiung Banah).