In a statement today, he criticised Sabah Umno chief Bung Moktar Radin for being “defensive and bitter” in his response to PBS’s stance against working with BN.

Mandut said PBS had simply made its position clear that the party had no intention of cooperating with BN in the election.

“It does not matter whether an invitation was made or not. We are just making a principled stand on the issue,” he said.

Yesterday, Bung accused PBS acting president Dr Joachim Gunsalam of “political self-delusion” for suggesting his party had “rejected” BN’s offer to team up for the state polls.

“This appears to be yet another case of political self-delusion, where one imagines conversations and negotiations that simply never took place.

“You cannot reject a proposal that was never made. Please, don’t flatter yourself,” he said.

Joachim was reported to have said that the PBS Supreme Council had voted against working with BN in the state polls, adding that the party remained committed to GRS.

PBS was formerly a BN component but left the coalition after it lost control of Putrajaya in the 2018 general election.

Bung reportedly said that BN had moved on from former allies that had once abandoned the coalition.

However, Mandut reminded Bung to reflect on his own party’s history, saying that politics is not static.

“Parties realign based on the needs of the people they represent. What matters is whether those choices are made in the interest of the rakyat, not out of personal ambition,” he said.

Mandut said PBS, as one of Sabah’s oldest and most established political parties, remained focused on its core struggle to uphold Sabah’s rights and the Malaysia Agreement 1963.

“We have a clear political track record and continue to resonate with generations of Sabahans. Unlike some, we don’t need to tear others down to stay relevant,” he said.