Kuala lumpur: Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), its partner parties and the independent candidates who won in the 17th Sabah State Election have formed the state government with a simple majority.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, GRS deputy secretary-general Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali announced that GRS chairman Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor was sworn in early today as Chief Minister for a second term. The swearing-in ceremony was witnessed by state assemblymen who pledged their support to form the state government.

‘Insya-Allah, GRS, its partner parties and all independent assemblymen, who were previously with GRS either as assemblymen or party leaders before the dissolution, will move swiftly to fulfil the mandate and trust of the people of Sabah,’ Datuk Armizan noted in a Facebook post.

Hajiji, who retained the Sulaman seat in the state election yesterday, took his oath of office before Yang Dipertua Negeri Tun Musa Aman in a ceremony at Istana Seri Kinabalu at about 3 am.

In the election where 73 state seats were contested, GRS secured 29 seats, Warisan obtained 25 seats, Barisan Nasional garnered six seats, independent candidates took five, UPKO won three, and STAR achieved two seats. Perikatan Nasional (PN), Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat (KDM), and Pakatan Harapan (PH) each won one seat. A simple majority of 37 seats is necessary to form the state government.