Sabah Barisan dissident, Sabah DAP chief get top GLC posts

KOTA KINABALU: Two assemblymen who backed Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor in the recent political crisis have been appointed as heads of Sabah government-linked companies (GLCs) on Friday (Jan 13).

Datuk Dr Yusof Yacob has been appointed chairman of the state investment arm Qhazanah Sabah Berhad with immediate effect.

Dr Yusof was one of the five Sabah Barisan Nasional-Umno assemblymen who broke ranks with its chief Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin who led the party’s pullout from the Hajiji-led Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) government last week.

The Sindumin assemblyman replaced fellow Sabah Barisan’s Usukan assemblyman Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak who was sacked from the post.

At the same time, Sabah DAP chief and Tanjong Papat assemblyman Datuk Frankie Poon was named as the chairman of Sabah Development Berhad (SDB), effective immediately.

Yusof and Poon received their letters of appointment from Hajiji in a brief ceremony at the latter’s office in Menara Kinabalu here on Friday.

Finance Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun and State Secretary, Datuk Seri Safar Untong were also present.

Congratulating Yusof and Poon for the appointments, Hajiji hoped that they would be able to contribute to the growth of the state-owned companies.

In a statement later, Poon said his appointment as the SDB chief came with a state minister’s status.

"This is a heavy and huge responsibility. I wish to thank the Chief Minister for the trust and confidence he has in me," he said.

In 2022, he said, the SDB had given dividends and contributions to the state government amounting to RM20mil.

"I will do my best to at least equal or better (the contribution).

"To the general public, let us work together towards the economic development of Sabah," Poon added.

The Sabah political crisis which unfolded sometime in the middle of last week saw Sabah Barisan-Umno pulling its support from the GRS government.

There was a possibility that Parti Warisan, with its 19 assemblymen, and the 17 Sabah Barisan reps worked with smaller parties to unseat the Hajiji-led government.

However, GRS managed to muster the support of 44 assemblymen, including five Sabah Umno assemblymen who went against the move by Bung Moktar, and seven Sabah Pakatan Harapan reps, to back Hajiji to stay on as the Chief Minister.

This enabled Hajiji to remain as the state’s top leader after garnering a simple majority in the 79-member state assembly.

As a result, the Sulaman assemblyman appointed new state ministers including two of the Sabah Umno dissidents namely Datuk Shahelmey Yahya as the Deputy Chief Minister III-cum-State Works Minister, and Datuk James Ratib as the Community Development and People’s Wellbeing Minister.

Sabah Pakatan Harapan chief Datuk Christina Liew and Sabah DAP secretary Phoong Jin Zhe were also appointed as full ministers.

The Cabinet reshuffle saw Bung Moktar lose his Deputy Chief Minister’s and Works Minister’s positions while his two other loyal Umno assemblymen, namely Datuk Yakubah Khan and Datuk Jafry Ariffin, also lost their ministerial posts.