Others might leave Umno but I'm staying, says Bung
Published on: Thursday, September 20, 2018
Kota Kinabalu: Kinabatangan Member of Parliament Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin (pic) has denied rumours he too will be leaving Umno, explaining that he still believes that the party has support and a following in Sabah.Bung said it is likely that more leaders in the peninsula will leave the party but not him, after he was rumoured to be among Umno MPs who will quit the party following the exit of former federal ministers Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed and Datuk Seri Anifah Aman. "I am staying. Because I still believe in Umno's struggle. If we jump to another party, we cannot do much anyway. We'll also just be known as frogs," he said when contacted by the Malay Mail.
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"I am very confident that there will be no more MPs from Sabah leaving but some in Semenanjung will. A few more. I cannot give you the names but you'll see. Shahidan is among them, and a few others identified," he said.Bung, who is Umno Sabah deputy liaison chief, also said rumours of Kudat MP Datuk Abdul Rahim Bakri leaving were not true.On Anifah's departure and what it meant for Umno Sabah, Bung said that he respected the Kimanis MP's decision and that the party will still survive without him."There's not much damage. The party will survive. You can see from the results after the election. Where there are some big majorities, where there are less.
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"Umno is still strong in Sabah. We just need to work harder. We should engage people, do more to stay relevant. We can still take back the government," he said.Asked whether former Sabah chief minister Tan Sri Musa Aman would be following his younger brother, Anifah, in leaving Umno, Bung said that it was unlikely.
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"I don't have any confirmation (about whether he is leaving) but I believe that he is a true fighter of Umno and he will not abandon the party which he has so much history with," he said.Musa is Sungai Sibuga state assemblyman while his son, Hafez Yamani Musa is a first-term MP for Sipitang.Bung said he was not sure whether there would be state assemblymen leaving the party but as far as he knew, they were staying put.Bung added that Umno in Sabah does not have the same issues as in the peninsula, where Umno is collaborating with PAS. "Here, that is not an issue. BN is not even in Sabah anymore. We are thinking of forming local alliance Gabungan Bersatu Sabah now," he said.The state Umno recently endorsed its decision to set up the opposition bloc that will spell the end of Barisan Nasional in the state.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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