KOTA KINABALU, June 15 -- Sabah Umno has welcomed Gabungan Rakyat Sabah's (GRS) readiness to contest in the upcoming 17th State Election (PRN17), but stressed that any political cooperation must be grounded in sincerity, mutual respect, and shared values - not convenience or a mere hunger for power.

Sabah Umno chairman Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin, responding to recent remarks by GRS deputy secretary-general Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali, said such statements were part of the democratic competition between parties operating in the same political space.

"In principle, this is nothing extraordinary. In fact, it reflects a healthy democracy, where ideas and policies are tested in the open," Bung Moktar said in a statement on Sunday.

However, he ...