Kota Kinabalu: Sabah Umno is happy to continue its cooperation with PPBM unlike their counterparts in the peninsula.
This was revealed by state Barisan Nasional chairman Bung Moktar Radin who told FMT that none of the 25 Sabah Umno divisions made any motion to cut ties with PPBM or Perikatan Nasional (PN) ahead of the next general election (GE15).
“As far as I know, none of the Umno divisions in Sabah passed such a resolution after the completion of their divisional meetings,” the Sabah deputy chief minister said when contacted.
“The divisions agreed that we must keep the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) government intact. This is a cooperation not only with PPBM but other parties in there as well.
“We are always open in this matter but for us in Sabah Umno, we see no necessity not to support the GRS government.”
GRS comprises the Barisan Nasional and PN coalitions as well as PBS.
Yesterday, almost three-quarters of Umno’s 191 divisions in the peninsula told the party leadership that they do not want to cooperate with PPBM in GE15.
Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said he respected the views of the 143 divisions and had called for a Supreme Council meeting on Wednesday to discuss the matter.
Bung said while Sabah Umno, which has autonomy to chart its own political direction, had opted to maintain the GRS cooperation for now, the views of the 143 Umno divisions must be handled carefully by the PN-led government.
“Sabah Umno respects their stand and this means the PN government must look at the relational issues between the parties seriously.
“There might be dissatisfactions but this doesn’t mean the PN government must be toppled,” he added.
The Kinabatangan MP admitted, however, that there are many Sabah Umno leaders who themselves are not happy with the present leadership in the government.
“But my advice to them is this government is still new, so give a chance to the relevant leaders to coordinate and settle issues involving positions or other matters.
“There are many things they (Sabah Umno members) are unhappy about but give the leaders an opportunity to strengthen the government and only then we can start a new round of negotiations,” Bung said.
