KOTA KINABALU: Amid intense political mudslinging over the word "palui" (stupid or foolish), Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin has urged Sabahans to vote out those who described one another as such.
The Sabah Barisan Nasional chairman pointed out that the exchanges between Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor and Federal Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin showed that Sabahans should reject both sides in the coming state election.
“If you look at it, Hajiji became Chief Minister because of Hamzah," Bung Moktar said at a Sabah Barisan Chinese New Year walkabout at the popular Gaya Street Fair on Sunday (Jan 26).
“So, with them calling each other palui, I suggest that the people of Sabah do not vote for such a Chief Minister or such (an Opposition) party. Please vote for Barisan Nasional,” he added.
Hamzah, who has been in Sabah on a revival tour for Perikatan Nasional and Bersatu ahead of the state election due this year, reportedly used the word to describe Hajiji and other state leaders for leaving the party to team up with Pakatan Harapan and form the unity government after GE15.
Hamzah, a key player in forming the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS)-Perikatan-Barisan state government after the September 2020 snap state polls, accused Hajiji and those who left Bersatu of being political opportunists.
He said this was because they left Bersatu using the excuse of promoting local-based parties while ignoring the fact that they were all from national parties before.
Then, in Sabah's interior Keningau district, GRS chairman Hajiji hit back at Hamzah for using the word palui, saying it showed a lack of respect for Sabah's leaders and its people.
Bung Moktar noted that Hajiji himself had used the word on Hamzah multiple times at the Keningau event.
It was reported later that Hamzah had retracted his remark, with a state Bersatu leader saying it was not directed at the Sabahan people but at certain state leaders.
Pro-GRS NGO Gerakan Kuasa Rakyat Malaysia (G57) lodged a police report against Hamzah for using the word as they claimed that an insult directed at state leaders was an insult to all Sabahans.
Sabah Barisan and Sabah Perikatan forged a coalition to topple the Warisan-Pakatan state government led by Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal in the September 2020 state election.
Following the formation of the Federal unity government after GE15 in November 2022, Hajiji and other state Bersatu leaders left the party.
Bung Moktar withdrew Sabah Barisan's support for the GRS-led state government less than two months later, claiming that GRS had not lived up to its electoral promises to his coalition.
Hajiji survived the political coup through an alliance with Sabah Pakatan and the support of several Sabah Umno leaders who went against the party line.