Sabah Umno leader urges party to punish five dissidents for supporting Hajiji, GRS

KOTA KINABALU: Stern action must be taken against the five Sabah Barisan Nasional assemblymen who broke ranks with the state leadership over the pullout from the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) government, says a state party leader.

Sabah Umno communications director Ghazalie Ansing (pic) said the move by the five to back Chief Minister and GRS chairman Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor instead of Barisan was an act of betrayal.

“I consider the five as traitors who have booked their tickets to ditch Umno. As such, it is up to the party leadership’s wisdom to make a decision,” he said in a statement on Monday (Jan 9).

“Stern action must be taken so that these assemblymen learn their lessons including sacking them from the party if the need arises,” he added.

The five reps were Datuk Shahelmey Yahya (Tanjung Keramat assemblyman), Datuk Dr Yusof Yacob (Sindumin), Datuk Jasnih Daya (Pantai Dalit), Datuk Arshad Bistari (Tempasuk) and Datuk James Ratib (Sugut).

They had initially on Saturday (Jan 7) issued a statement publicly backing Hajiji to remain as Chief Minister following the political crisis in Sabah as well as calling for Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin to step down as Sabah Barisan chief for severing ties with GRS.

But later the same day, they retracted the call for Bung Moktar to resign although they maintained their support for Hajiji, the GRS chairman.

Towards this end, Ghazalie claimed the five had revealed their true colours by continuing to support Hajiji, further contending they were being used by GRS.

He alleged that the Umno assemblymen were only looking after their self-interests, pointing out they had forgotten that the position they enjoyed now was down to the support of the people to Umno and Barisan.

“True leaders of the party will be loyal to the decision of the party because of unity but these five are only puppets to the opposing party.

“They were willing to be used as pawns by rivals in order to hold on to power and the privileges enjoyed presently,” he said.

Ghazalie claimed that before becoming Barisan assemblymen, these leaders had begged the party to be given a shot at contesting the elections but were now repaying the trust given to them by biting the hand that fed them.

From the five, all contested under the Barisan logo in the 2020 Sabah snap election except for Yusof who contested and won under a Parti Warisan ticket. He later ditched Warisan in 2021 before joining Sabah Barisan last May.

Meanwhile, the five Sabah Barisan assemblymen joined reps from Sabah Pakatan Harapan and GRS to gather at the Chief Minister’s official residence in Sri Gaya here on Monday.

It was understood that they had gathered starting at 1pm, although it was unclear the reason for the gathering.

This was ahead of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's scheduled flight to the state capital on Monday night. Anwar is expected to sort out the political turmoil by speaking to Sabah Barisan, GRS as well as Warisan.

Hajiji had on Sunday (Jan 8) said that he had the support of 44 assemblymen, four more than the 40 seats needed for a simple majority in the 79-member state assembly.

The GRS chairman also claimed that statutory declarations (SDs) have been submitted to Sabah Governor Tun Juhar Mahiruddin during a meeting on Saturday (Jan 7) evening.

Out of the 44 assemblymen, he said 29 were from GRS, seven from Sabah Pakatan, Barisan (five) and PAS (one).