KOTA KINABALU: Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah's (Gagasan Rakyat) annual general meeting this weekend (July 26, 27) will be a closely watched affair.

Gagasan Rakyat, the anchor party of the ruling eight-party state coalition Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), is expected to decide if GRS will go solo or solidify its current partnership with Pakatan Harapan.

Over 2,000 delegates from 74 divisions are expected to attend the annual meeting led by Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, who is also Sabah Chief Minister.

Gagasan Rakyat insiders are not expecting an outright resolution but the grassroots will likely give Hajiji and party supreme council members the mandate to decide on the party's stand for the coming Sabah Election, which is due by Nov 11.

Hajiji has spoken in favour of continuing its electoral pact with Sabah Pakatan but said that any decision would have the consensus of others in GRS.

He has said he had talked to Pakatan leaders including Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on a possible electoral pact.

Coalition partner Sabah STAR, led by Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, wants GRS to go solo or at the very least, to give Pakatan a minimal number of seats and to contest under the GRS logo.

Another partner, Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), led by acting president Datuk Seri Dr Joachim Gunsalam, said GRS should be the dominant party in any electoral pact and also said it would not have a pact with Barisan Nasional.

Gagasan Rakyat holds the most seats in GRS with 26, while PBS and Sabah STAR hold 13 seats between them. GRS has a total of 42 seats, including those of other partners.

Officiated by Hajiji, Gagasan Rakyat's AGM will kick off with a special seminar to be attended by over 400 division members, including from the women's, youth and women's youth wings.

The three wings will hold their annual meetings on Saturday (July 26) followed by the Gagasan Rakyat AGM on Sunday (July 27).