KINABATANGAN: Hours after Sabah Barisan Nasional chairman Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin was confirmed as the coalition’s Sukau candidate, a defection unfolded.
Former political secretary to Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, Dayang Norhayati Titing, brought 2,000 Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah members to join Barisan.
Dayang Norhayati, who is also Gagasan Rakyat’s Sukau women’s chief, previously served in Umno before moving to Bersatu and later Gagasan Rakyat.
She said the decision followed months of internal discussions with her close team.
“This decision is not something that happened only on Saturday (Nov 15) as I have thought about it for a long time,” she told reporters.
Dayang added the decision was made after discussions with her close friends who have been fighting alongside her.
She said she left Umno seven years ago to learn something new but felt drawn back to her political roots.
“I realised that the struggle at the grassroots level is where I started, in Umno and Barisan Nasional,” she said.
She added that she resigned her party posts and left Gagasan Rakyat with nearly 2,000 supporters, adding more are expected to follow.
“Positions are not something to be proud of if we cannot help the grassroots,” she said.
Dayang Norhayati and the 2,000 members also went to the nomination centre to show support for Barisan candidates.
They backed Bung Moktar and Datuk Jafry Ariffin in Sukau.
