‘No cold war in Sabah Umno’

State deputy chief Salleh Said Keruak dismisses claims made by national youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin.

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Umno deputy liaison chief Salleh Said Keruak has refuted suggestions of a “cold war” between certain leaders in the state.

He said Sabah Umno was stable, with party leader and members united under the leadership of Chief Minister and state Umno liaison chief Musa Aman.

“I don’t understand what was meant by YB Khairy Jamaluddin (Umno Youth chief). There’s no cold war in Sabah Umno,” he told reporters at the state level Kaamatan Festival celebration in Penampang, near here today.

Salleh, who is also Sabah state assembly speaker, said this in response to Khairy’s statement in Keningau yesterday alleging that an ongoing cold war in Sabah Umno had prompted a reshuffle in state Umno Youth leadership, which saw its former chief Azman Ruslan being replaced.

Khairy was quoted as saying that Umno Youth had been caught up in the crisis stemming from the purported cold war.

Salleh said that such a remark showed that certain people did not understand Sabah politics.

“What’s obvious is that a small number of power-hungry leaders are using all possible means to destabilise Sabah Umno, including using certain people as their tools.

“As far as I’m concerned, leadership changes at the Umno Youth level are a normal process and a prerogative of the Umno Youth chief,” he said.

-Bernama