Tuaran: Sabah Bersatu chief Datuk Hajiji Noor has rubbished allegations that he is a puppet of former chief minister Tan Sri Musa Aman.
He said there was no truth to Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal’s claim that he would be controlled by Musa if Hajiji wins in the 16th Sabah state election.
Hajiji, the Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidate in Sulaman, said he is an old hand in Sabah politics and nobody could control him.
"It (allegation) is not true...No one can control what I plan to do,” he told reporters after attending a PN meet-and-greet the people session in the Kampung Kindu polling district centre here.
Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had earlier indicated that Hajiji could be a chief minister candidate if PN and its allies win the state election.
Last night, Mohd Shafie, who is Sabah Chief Minister, made the allegation against Hajiji at a meet-the-people session in Kota Kinabalu.
Hajiji said Mohd Shafie should not drag third parties like Musa into his campaign because the incumbent Sungai Sibuga assemblyman is not contesting in this election.
"Although he (Musa) may be campaigning in several places, I think it is not appropriate to focus on him. Why resort to criticisms and the like? It’s not fair to him,” he added.
Hajiji said the focus of the campaign should be on ways to revive the economy and guarantee the people a better future.
On his plans for the people, Hajiji said he would continue to develop Sulaman, which he has been representing since 1990, in the agriculture, fisheries and infrastructure sectors, among others.
Hajiji is being challenged by Warisan’s Datuk Aliasgar Basri and Datuk Rekan Hussien of PCS in the Sept 26 polls.
In the 2018 general election, Hajiji, who was then representing BN, polled 12,966 votes to beat Abdullah Sani Daud of Warisan, who obtained 5,192 votes, and Arifin Harith of PHRS, who got 467 votes.
