Bitter slanging match between PBS and Umno Sabah

A turf war is brewing between Barisan Nasional component party members Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) and Umno in Sabah.

PBS believes that Umno, its senior partner in the BN, is overstepping its authority and attempting to undermine its state assembly representatives.

"What is Umno is talking about power-sharing,” Kadamaian PBS information chief Gombuhar Dongkiris said in reference to a dispute in the appointments of village heads.

The Kadamaian PBS division is especially annoyed that a senior Umno official in Kota Belud district had questioned the competence of Kadamian assemblyman Herbert Timbon Lagadan.

Kota Belud Umno deputy head Awadnir Matanggal sparked the dispute when he criticised the appointments of village heads in Kadamaian while officiating at an Umno meeting.

Gombuhar said that Awadnir's comment was reported in a national newspaper last week and had put the Kadamaian assemblyman in an awkward position.

Awadnir had reportedly said that Umno had overturned the sacking of six village heads aligned to the party by Herbert.

His statement has been viewed as an affront to PBS and as meddling in the affairs of Kadamian's administration.

'PBS does not meddle in area under Umno'

What particularly piqued the PBS division is Awadnir's claim that Herbert had been outmuscled by Umno and had been forced to reinstate the six and also be given their accrued allowances.

"This is false … a misleading statement," said Gombuhar. "Awadnir must first listen to why their (the six village heads) services were terminated and not just listen to the views of the replaced Ketua Kampung.

"He should check with the Native Courts' office or the office of the Kadamaian assemblyman," he said in a statement to the local media yesterday.

Gombuhar said the six village heads had been replaced for good reasons and PBS would not interfere when the Umno leadership does the same in its own areas.

PBS, he said, does not meddle in areas under Umno's jurisdiction and it showed the same courtesy to its fellow BN members.

Dredging up their bitter history, Gombuhar asked:"Has Awadnir or Umno, for that matter, forgotten what they did when they took over power from PBS?
Umno replaced all village heads aligned to the overthrown party shortly after it came to power controversially in 1994.

Gombuhar said that unlike Umno, PBS was trying to be impartial in appointing village heads and was attempting to distribute the posts among the BN component parties to keep everyone happy.

He said that the party was doing this best despite the fact that all such appointments are the prerogative of the respective assembly representatives.

courtesy of FMT