Hajiji denies being puppet of Musa Aman

 

Sabah Bersatu chief Hajiji Noor has rubbished allegations that he is a puppet of former chief minister Musa Aman.

He said there was no truth to Warisan president Mohd Shafie Apdal’s claim that he would be controlled by Musa if Hajiji wins in the 16th Sabah state election.

Hajiji (above), the Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidate in Sulaman, said he is an old hand in Sabah politics and nobody could control him.

"It (the allegation) is not true [...] no one can control what I plan to do,” he told reporters after attending a PN meet-and-greet the people session in the Kampung Kindu polling district centre in Tuaran.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had earlier indicated that Hajiji could be a chief minister candidate if PN and its allies win the state election.

Last night, Mohd Shafie, who is Sabah caretaker chief minister, made the allegation against Hajiji at a meet-the-people session in Kota Kinabalu.

Hajiji said Mohd Shafie should not drag third parties like Musa into his campaign because the incumbent Sungai Sibuga assemblyperson is not contesting in this election.

"Although he (Musa) may be campaigning in several places, I think it is not appropriate to focus on him. Why resort to criticisms and the like? It’s not fair to him,” he added.

Hajiji said the focus of the campaign should be on ways to revive the economy and guarantee the people a better future.

On his plans for the people, Hajiji said he would continue to develop Sulaman, which he has been representing since 1990, in the agriculture, fisheries and infrastructure sectors, among others.

Hajiji is being challenged by Warisan’s Aliasgar Basri and Rekan Hussien of PCS in the Sept 26 polls.

In the 2018 general election, Hajiji, who was then representing BN, polled 12,966 votes to beat Abdullah Sani Daud of Warisan, who obtained 5,192 votes, and Arifin Harith of PHRS, who got 467 votes.

In KENINGAU, meanwhile, Musa Aman said Sabah voters now had an opportunity to change the government through the state election next Saturday.

“All voters must exercise their rights to choose a government that is capable of rectifying the problems created by the Warisan-led government especially in managing the economy and the overall development of the state,” he said in a statement issued after attending a meet-the-people session at Kg Kota Ayangan in Bingkor today.

Musa attended the programme in support of Robert Tawik who is representing Perikatan Nasional (PN) for Bingkor in the upcoming polls.

He said the Warisan-led government under the leadership of Mohd Shafie Apdal has failed to effectively administer the state so the people have no choice but to put PN and its allies in power.

Musa said in the last 26 months, Shafie should have focused on the state’s development agenda and on genuine economic planning but was instead more interested in politicking and character assassination.

“As such, I hope the people will vote wisely and not be swayed by lies and deceptive politics,” he said. - Bernama