Najib losing Sabah support, says Umno veep

Umno vice-president and Semporna MP Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal says he has a hard time trying to explain 1MDB’s debts to his constituents while their needs for a bridge or housing are not met. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Najjua Zulkefli, December 9, 2015.

Long considered Barisan Nasional’s (BN) “fixed deposit”, Sabah is now losing confidence in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his leadership, says Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal.

The Semporna MP said he had a tough time explaining to them the billions in debt 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) racked up, especially when they were already burdened with the goods and services tax (GST) and the lack of facilities in the state.

“It (support towards Najib) has rather lessened. It has dropped. When I go down to the ground, there are many people whose support has decreased, in terms of their views,” Shafie told a joint interview with several news organisations in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, ahead of the Umno assembly, which begins today with the Youth, Wanita and Puteri Wings meeting.

He said this when asked whether he had observed a drop in support towards Najib as the prime minister when making his rounds in Sabah.

Shafie said that while Sabahans were mainly preoccupied with bread-and-butter issues, they were also disturbed by reports of 1MDB’s debts.

“It’s when they link GST to 1MDB’s money that it sometimes becomes a headache for us to explain. 

“(They say) ‘Why is there a RM42 billion debt? We’re only asking for a bridge, or water, or houses. He (1MDB) gets to spend billions’.

“So they want an explanation, it’s as simple as that.”

When asked what he thought of Umno’s chances in the next elections, Shafie said the party faced more challenges now than it did during the 2013 and 2008 polls.

He said sacking Umno leaders would only worsen the situation.

He added that the party should not make the mistake of underestimating the opposition pact, noting that it had gained huge grounds since the years when it controlled just one state in the country.

- TMI