Why Umno came to Sabah: Harris
Published on: Tuesday, February 07, 2017
Kota Kinabalu: Tan Sri Harris Salleh (pic) became the first senior Sabah politician to reveal that it was four Sabah Malay leaders, including himself, who decided to officially write to then Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir, to invite Umno to Sabah in 1986.But, he said, this would not have happened had Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) honoured the pre-polls agreement with the United Sabah National Organisation (Usno) on the formation of a coalition government after the 1985 general election.The former Chief Minister said another reason for inviting Umno to the State was the shared vision among few Muslim leaders that through the party, a Sabahan can hope to become the Prime Minister.
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He said the other three who signed the letter in his house in the middle of 1986 were Tun Sakaran Dandai, Tun Said Keruak and Tan Sri Ghani Gilong. Harris whose Parti Berjaya was defeated by a 45-day old PBS in the 1985 state election as well as Sakaran, Said Keruak and Ghani Gilong were former Usno colleagues. He said since there had been much talk recently on Umno's expansion to Sabah and Sarawak's rejection of Umno, he felt it was necessary to put on record that Umno did not enter Sabah uninvited, contrary to what many think."Umno had never expressed any wish to come to these two states uninvited.
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In fact, Umno had already said a few times that it did not force itself into Sabah. Umno came to Sabah at the invitation of a few of Muslim leaders.
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"We would not have extended this invitation had PBS honoured the agreement between Usno and PBS on the formation of a coalition government after the 1985 general election," he revealed. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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