Sabah Umno meeting only about party’s future, says Bung

KOTA KINABALU: Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin has brushed aside speculation that Umno was pulling the plug from the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS)-Barisan Nasional government.

The Sabah Barisan chief said the state Umno meeting on Thursday (Jan 5) was a normal meeting about the party’s direction.

“We only discussed the future of the party,” said Bung, when met at the Sabah Umno headquarters here.

“Nothing much, just a normal meeting,” he added.

The Sabah Umno meeting invited more speculation on a power shift at the state level as it was held at 4.30pm, about the same time Parti Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal had called for a press conference at a hotel here.

Both the meeting and press conference came amid speculation that there was a movement to topple the GRS government led by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.

It was earlier speculated that Bung, who is also a Deputy Chief Minister in the state Cabinet, was pulling its support from the GRS government.

The speculation had been making the rounds, particularly in social media, over the last 48 hours.

It was said that he would join forces with Warisan and smaller parties to obtain a simple majority - 40 of the 79 seats in the state assembly - to form a government.

The press conference by Shafie was, however, later postponed at 6.40pm.

Shafie has yet to comment on claims over the possible move of Warisan and Barisan working together to form the state government or the purpose of the press conference.

GRS has 29 assemblymen which includes 15 direct GRS members (former Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia), seven from Parti Bersatu Sabah, Sabah STAR (six) and Sabah Progressive Party (one).

Barisan, with its 17 assemblymen, gave the GRS-Barisan state government 46 seats in the state assembly.

It is understood that Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat (KDM), which has three seats, as well as PAS, Parti Bangsa Malaysia, each with one assemblyman, and one independent rep were also friendly to the state government.

This translates to Hajiji presently having the support of 53 assemblymen in the state assembly.

Warisan has 19 assemblymen while Sabah Pakatan Harapan has seven, comprising four from DAP, two from PKR and one from Upko.