KOTA KINABALU: Sabah UMNO has described GRS’s statement about the possibility of collaborating with UMNO for the upcoming state elections as an attempt to mislead both the public and UMNO members.
Jeffery Nor Mohamed, the Sabah UMNO Election Director, expressed that such remarks imply a lack of dignity and self-respect of the current state UMNO leaders.
“It’s time to stop relying on outdated political tactics and instead concentrate on addressing the pressing problems that the people of Sabah are currently facing.
“Yes, we in UMNO Sabah are giving the state government the opportunity to tackle these issues, so it would be far more productive to focus on that rather than engage in unproductive political disputes,” he said in a statement today.
Yesterday, the Chairman of the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) and Chief Minister of Sabah, Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, was quoted as saying that GRS does not rule out the possibility of cooperating with UMNO Sabah to face the upcoming state elections.
Hajiji emphasised that unity is paramount in politics.
Jeffery, who also leads Putatan UMNO, clarified that the decision to withdraw support from GRS was made during a UMNO Sabah leadership meeting, not by just a couple of party leaders.
“While a few may have been absent, the decision was reached by majority vote,” he explained.
He further asserted that UMNO Sabah has its own stance, one that cannot be easily swayed.
“Why is it only now that there’s talk of the potential to unite with UMNO Sabah when we were left to jump to Bersatu and then again to another party? Where was the foundation of our struggle back then?” he questioned.