Sabah CM safe from a Perak-like ouster, says Umno man

 

Sabah chief minister Hajiji Noor of PPBM is not likely to suffer the fate of party comrade Ahmad Faizal Azumu, says an Umno leader.

KOTA KINABALU: A Sabah Umno leader does not believe Chief Minister Hajiji Noor will befall a similar fate to that of Perak menteri besar Ahmad Faizal Azumu who lost a vote of confidence in the state assembly yesterday.

The party’s state youth wing leader, Abdul Aziz Julkarnain, said the choice of a menteri besar in Perak had been in question from the start.

“The ruling government in Perak already had a menteri besar crisis before this. But in Sabah, there was already a decision among the parties (in Gabungan Rakyat Sabah) for Hajiji to be CM following the state elections,” he said.

“The parties in Sabah also agreed on power sharing. We have that kind of understanding here so we are stable… what happened in Perak will not happen here. I believe Hajiji has enough support to maintain his position.”

Faizal lost a confidence vote in the state assembly by 48-10.

Aziz said GRS has also backed Hajiji, who is head of Sabah Perikatan Nasional and Sabah PPBM, to spearhead its charge to fulfill all the coalition’s election pledges particularly in correcting the wrongs by the previous government.

However political analyst Lee Kuok Tiung said that while it is not impossible that Sabah will experience the same as Perak, he pointed out that it was not right to compare “apples and oranges”.

He said PPBM held only 5 seats in Perak, and the party with the smallest number of assemblymen got the opportunity to have a MB. “Of course, lots of people will be unhappy.”

In Sabah, however, PPBM has 11 seats compared to Umno’s 14 but is helped by STAR, which is part of PN, with its six assemblymen. PBS has seven seats and has chosen to back PPBM for the chief minister’s post.

“Umno relented because PPBM, STAR and PBS has 24 seats compared to Umno’s 14.”

Lee said Perak should take Sabah as a precedent where the top post should go to the party with the most assemblymen or support.

Sabah UiTM’s Tony Paridi Bagang, however, said the Perak episode could be an eye opener. Although he does not foresee the same happening to GRS, “this could be a reminder so as not to be too complacent… Sabah politics is very dynamic”.

However there was no reason the GRS government might suffer what took place in Perak. It could be seen that GRS is continuously strengthening the coalition,” he said.

UMS senior lecturer Romzi Ationg sees the Perak vote as a warning to Sabah PPBM. “But it is still unclear whether Umno is interested in a similar move. They seem undecided in issues pertaining to collaboration with Warisan Plus,” he said.

Romzi does not believe GRS has grown stronger, contending that it was grappling with the issue of political collaboration especially in the areas of trust and leadership. - FMT