FAKE AUTONOMY? SABAH UMNO SAYS HAS BEEN GIVEN ‘FULL AUTONOMY’ – SO THAT IF UMNO HQ WORKS WITH PAS IN THE PENINSULA, IT’S ‘NOTHING TO DO’ WITH SABAH UMNO, SAYS BUNG MOKTAR

SABAH Umno is now an autonomous party and no longer a liaison body, its state chief Bung Moktar Radin said today.

He said the party’s Supreme Council has unanimously agreed to give Sabah Umno full autonomy.

“From now on, Sabah Umno will no longer be a liaison body but will only be known as Sabah Umno.    

“With autonomy, we have the authority to chart our own future, determine our own candidates and are no longer tied to central Umno,” said Bung, adding that the position of liaison chief had also been changed to state chief.

“For example, if Umno in the peninsula wants to work with PAS there, it will have nothing to do with Sabah Umno.

“Sabah Umno has the right to determine its own partners from now on,” he said at a press conference in the Sabah Umno building in Kota Kinabalu.

Bung’s announcement follows the mass exodus of Umno’s top leadership in the state on December 12, led by former state liaison chief Hajiji Mohd Noor.

The defection involve five MPs, nine assemblymen, including Hajiji – who is Sulaman assemblyman – two senators and 21 division heads.

Prior to the exodus on September 25, Sabah Umno had handed over a memorandum to then Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi requesting for autonomy from the central party.

Zahid had agreed in principle but said the matter had to be raised in its Supreme Council for deliberation, saying it involved amending the party’s consitutition.

Meanwhile, Bung also rubbished talk that Sabah Umno had been crippled by the exodus, saying the party remained strong, especially at the grassroots level.

“The autonomy will help us strengthen Umno again. Although we will face challenges as the party lacks experienced leaders, I am confident Sabah Umno will rise and be a strong party again,” he said. 

He said a special extraordinary general meeting must also be held in Ranau, Tuaran, Sipitang and Pensiangan to elect the divisions’ leadership.

He said all the other divisions remained intact, including 16 Ketua Puteri, 14 Wanita and 15 Youth movement heads.

Sabah Umno has 25 divisions in the state.

On former liaison chief Musa Aman, Bung said as Musa was an ordinary Sabah Umno member, he would no longer attend the party’s leaders’ meetings.

He, however, said Musa’s son – Yamani Hafez, who left Sabah Umno along with the others late last year –was welcome to return if he changed his mind following today’s announcement.

“As far as I know, right now, Yamani is not in the country and none of us have talked to him,” he said.

the malaysian insight