Kuala Lumpur: Umno will stand by its Sabah chapter despite its recent failure to oust the Bornean state’s chief minister Hajiji Noor, says party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Zahid described Sabah and Sarawak as strategic political partners, adding that Umno will always side with its East Malaysian counterparts for the sake of stability in the country, regardless of the configuration in Putrajaya.
“Regarding what has happened in Sabah recently, I want to stress that the central Umno (leadership) will always be with Sabah Umno,” he said at Umno’s general assembly here today.
The political turmoil in Sabah was sparked by Sabah Umno’s decision to withdraw its support for Hajiji as chief minister.
An analyst had said Zahid should take disciplinary action against Sabah Umno chief Bung Moktar Radin for leading the party’s state chapter in the failed move.
Hajiji now has the support of the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) coalition that he leads, Pakatan Harapan and five Barisan Nasional assemblymen.
Hajiji has since dropped Bung from his state Cabinet in a reshuffle. Bung was one of the three deputy chief ministers and also the state works minister.
He was replaced by Shahelmey Yahya, the BN assemblyman for Tanjung Keramat, who took over both portfolios.
BN’s Jafry Ariffin and Yakub Khan were also dropped from the new line-up. Jafry previously served as the state tourism, culture and environment minister, and Yakub was the state science, technology and innovation minister.
Bung and Warisan president Shafie Apdal had claimed that Hajiji’s Cabinet did not reflect the unity state government proposal mooted by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
