Kinabatangan MP Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin Leave court House.— LOW BOON TAT/THE STAR
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Barisan Nasional is raising its eyebrows over the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah's (GRS) Kemabong assemblyman Datuk Rubin Balang's son Riduan contesting as an independent against Barisan Nasional candidate.
Sabah Barisan chairman Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin alleged that Rubin encouraged his son to contest the seat as an independent who was friendly to GRS.
As such, Bung said GRS chairman Datuk Hajiji Noor should take disciplinary action against Rubin, as it was against the spirit of the GRS-Barisan seat sharing agreement for the general election.
"It is a violation of our agreement, disciplinary action must be taken against Rubin," Bung said after meeting with villagers of Tuan Gusi in Kota Belud here Friday (Nov 11).
Bung accused Rubin, who is Tenom Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) division chief, of also allegedly masterminding Reduan's entry into Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat (KDM) led by Datuk Peter Anthony, whose nominations for the seat was rejected on Nov 5.
Riduan, who was Tenom Bersatu division youth chief, had quit the party to contest the election as an independent but on Friday (Nov 11) submitted an application to join KDM.
Bung said such actions violated the agreement and threw the GRS-Barisan cooperation in bad light, as it would also damage the support for the Barisan candidate Jamawi Jaafar in the Tenom parliamentary seat.
"It does not reflect the spirit of friendship between the two coalitions," he added.
"Action must be taken immediately against all those playing shadow games and the signed agreement between GRS and Barisan should not be taken lightly," Bung stressed.
Bung, who is Deputy Chief Minister, said that the disciplinary action should include removing such leaders from any position in any government-related agency or corporation (GLC).
He explained that disciplinary action should be taken immediately as a reminder to all members and leaders of GRS-BN not to take lightly the cooperation signed by both parties before.
Speculations have been growing that Riduan's application to join KDM was aimed at getting the support of Anthony, the Melalap assemblyman whose nominations to contest the Tenom seat was rejected. KDM is a GRS friendly party.
Rubin could not be reached immediately.
