A Sabah Bersatu leader has joined the chorus of criticism against Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim for heaping laurels on scandal-plagued Sabah Chief Minister Hajiji Noor during an event recently.
“Every Sabahan saw Anwar’s double standards in his efforts to eradicate corruption.
“This creates a perception that as long as you’re in team Anwar, you won’t get punished for indulging in graft,” said Sabah Bersatu information chief Suhaimi Buang in a statement today.
Over the weekend, Berita Harian reported Anwar praising Hajiji for being “calm and moderate” in facing political turmoil in the state.
The Tambun MP said Hajiji’s abilities were important in ensuring stability in Sabah and allowing the government to focus on more pressing issues for the state and its people.
Anwar’s praises to the Sabah chief minister drew brickbats from a Sabah-based NGO later.
“It is very confusing for the people of Sabah to see Anwar expressing his appreciation to a chief minister who is being investigated by the MACC over a corruption scandal involving viral video clips, which showed nine assemblypersons discussing bribes with a whistleblower.
“Anwar’s statement made it seem like he approves the (alleged) corrupt activities of the chief minister. He has lost his principles and forgotten his commitment to have zero tolerance for corruption.
“I hope the prime minister will stop pretending to fight corruption, the people are already sick of his drama,” Sabah Entitlement and Equity Now (Seen) president Duncan Cheng was reported as saying.
‘Mute, blind’
On that note, Suhaimi said it was disappointing that Anwar did not touch on the corruption issue plaguing the state leaders when giving a speech during the event.
Based on media reports since November 2024, he pointed out that eight assemblypersons, the state speaker, and Hajiji himself had been implicated in the alleged corruption scandal by a whistleblower.
“Since becoming prime minister, Anwar repeatedly said eradicating corruption was his top priority.
“However, he became mute and blind to the corruption scandal (involving Sabah), without even raising the issue during his speech on Saturday,” Suhaimi added.
The state administration has been implicated in a bribery scandal after a whistleblower released a series of video clips showing several state leaders purportedly discussing bribes they received for supporting a mineral exploration licence. - Mkini
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