State polls: Gagasan Rakyat Sabah leader denies saying unity govt candidates will lose

Juhari (left) presenting application letters to Hajiji during the event in Kinabatangan last Saturday.

KOTA KINABALU: A Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (Gagasan Rakyat) leader denies saying that unity government candidates will lose in the upcoming six state elections in Peninsular Malaysia.

Sukau division chief Datuk Juhari Janan instead blamed local Barisan Nasional rivals for trying to spin his speech during a Gagasan Rakyat gathering for the Sukau/Lamag divisions in Kinabatangan on Saturday (July 8).

“I vehemently deny the allegation by Sabah Umno stating that the Sukau Gagasan Rakyat division does not support the unity government under the leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim,” he said in a statement Tuesday (July 11).

“The statement that I made as the division head is more about the failure of Kinabatangan Umno in advancing Sukau and the Kinabatangan parliamentary area despite having ruled for more than 20 years.

“Throughout the period of Umno’s rule in Sukau and Kinabatangan, there are still many people who are suffering and yearning for progress in their lives,” he added.

Sabah Umno elections director Jeffery Nor Mohamed was reported to have said in a local news portal that Juhari had cast aspersions in his speech on July 8 that unity government candidates might lose big in the six state elections.

Jeffery claimed there was a video of the speech going around, adding it was there for all to see and hear.

He further claimed this was proof that Gagasan Rakyat did not support the unity government, which included Barisan and Pakatan Harapan as components, adding that Sabah Umno strongly condemned Juhari’s alleged remarks.

Meanwhile, to further back up his claim, Juhari contended that efforts to divide the Sabah government were actually initiated to topple the administration led by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, who is also Gagasan Rakyat president.

He was referring to the political crisis in January when Sabah Umno chief cum Kinabatangan MP Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin led a pull-out of the state chapter from the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) government.

“In order to develop Sukau and Kinabatangan, the Sukau Gagasan Rakyat division would like to express its full support to the state government under Hajiji’s leadership as well as the federal unity government under the Prime Minister,” he said.