KOTA KINABALU: Talk that Sabah Umno chairman Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin will be replaced is untrue, says state leader Jeffrey Nor Mohamed.
“It is totally untrue and baseless. Certain people with political agendas of their own are sprea ing it to destabilise Umno in the state,” Jeffrey said when contacted yesterday.
Jeffrey, who is Sabah Umno election director and Putatan division chief, said that the party’s Sabah chapter was united and working well with Bung.
He said Bung has kept the party together and strengthened it since Barisan Nasional lost the state government in 2018.
“When Umno leaders defected to other parties, Bung stayed to keep the party together and worked hard for the party to get back into government in the 2020 state election,” he said.
“We in Sabah Umno fully support Bung to continue his leadership in the state. There is no dispute about this, maybe a few people have other personal agendas.
“They are spreading the rumours for their own political interests,” he said.
Bung is seen to have strengthened his hold in Sabah Umno after he was acquitted of corruption charges by Kuala Lumpur High Court last week.
However, rivals are attempting to unseat him in a bid to work with the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah government of Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
In the 2020 state election, Bung led Sabah Barisan to join forces with GRS, led by Hajiji to take back Sabah from Parti Warisan (Warisan).
However, earlier this year, Bung withdrew his support for Hajiji’s administration when the latter announced that he was forming Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (Gagasan Rakyat), which is now part of the federal-level unity government pact.
Hajiji managed to hold on to his majority in the Sabah assembly with the support of Pakatan Harapan assemblymen and defectors from Sabah Barisan.
