Shafie denies joining Usno Baru
Published on: Tuesday, August 04, 2015
Semporna: Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal, who was dropped from the Federal Cabinet last week, denied he was planning to join a local Opposition party. "It's a lie,' Shafie said during his first meet-the- people session here following his dismissal as Rural and Regional Development Minister by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. "After I was dropped, some people spread the story that I am leaving Umno and will join United Sabah National Organisation (Usno Baru),' he said. He assured his supporters that he would remain in Umno and continue to work towards strengthening the party. ADVERTISEMENT "I have not lost my focus to assist and continue striving for the rakyat though I do not have any Cabinet position,' he told a huge crowd on his return to his home base here on Monday. Shafie said he has remained loyal to Umno since the day the party spread its wings to Sabah in 1991 and would continue to work towards serving the people. "All of us must remain loyal to the party. We must continue our struggles for the people,' he said at the gathering attended by Semporna Umno deputy division chief Datuk Seri Nasir Tun Sakaran, who is also Senallang assemblyman, Sulabayan assemblyman Datuk Jaujan Sambakong and other Semporna division leaders. He said that position was not important but the main focus was for working for the party, people and country. "A leader must have principles and do the right things,' he said, in urging Semporna Umno members to respect the leadership, and to put party above self.ADVERTISEMENT He said he was taking the experience of South Africa's first black president Nelson Mandela and former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as his beacon."I am one of the founders of Umno in Sabah and I call on all Umno members to continue to support
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this 'sacred' party. Thus, we must be united in empowering Umno," he said."I still have the responsibility as the vice president of Umno and Member of Parliament for Semporna that I must carry out as entrusted to me by the grassroots," he told more than 20,000 people who attended the Gathering of the People with the Leader at the compound of his residence, here Monday.Returning to his hometown for the first time since he was excluded from the Federal Cabinet last week, Shafie who is also the Semporna Umno division chief said he would continue to champion the cause of the people in the country.Towards this end, he said he wanted to meet with the people here to clarify his position after being inundated with phone calls from his supporters."Some even threatened to quit the party (after he was dropped) but I told them not to do it because even though I no longer hold a position in the government I am still a vice president of Umno," he said. At the same time, Shafie who is also Chairman of the Umno New Membership Bureau and Umno Electors Register called on all members to strengthen party sovereignty by respecting the top party leadership. He urged all Umno members to continue to be united and not to do anything that could harm the party.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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Met by reporters later, Shafie said that whatever position a person is holding in Umno it must be respected. "The party institution is important and not positions. We respect the president therefore why should we not respect the deputy president or the supreme council members."Such practice must continue to be upheld steadfast if we want Umno to be respected by all the communities," he said.