PETALING JAYA: Rumblings of discontent within Sabah PPBM are starting to surface, according to a party insider, barely a month after Pakatan Harapan chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad launched the party in the state in the presence of a sea of supporters.
The party insider, a veteran in Sabah’s political arena, said at least 10 former senior Umno leaders, including himself, had been promised leadership of PPBM divisions in the state, yet they have not seen any sign of this materialising.
“On the one hand, we have had no news of the promise made to us, and on the other, talk is rife that younger leaders aligned to ‘another’ PPBM leader are being touted to head the divisions,” he told FMT.
Umno strongmen who quit en masse to join PPBM, chaired by Mahathir, were now at risk of being sidelined, the insider said.
While there had been denials from PPBM’s top leadership of differences between Mahathir and party president Muhyiddin Yassin, party leaders in Sabah were not convinced.
“Many of us joined PPBM because we believe in Mahathir’s leadership. We have yet to take our complaints to him as we feel it is not the time to do so. Even though senior leaders like us command grassroots support, we are concerned that there are attempts to ‘bury’ those who support Mahathir,” he said.
The source said the senior leaders will not back down but that a rift in the Sabah PPBM chapter could endanger electoral support.
“The Muslim Bumiputera voter base in Sabah is already split among Umno, Warisan and PPBM, not to mention small pockets in PKR and Gabungan Parti Sabah. So, infighting will be bad for us and possibly Pakatan Harapan,” the source said.
However, Sabah PPBM chief Hajiji Noor denied that positions had been promised to any of the former Sabah Umno leaders.
He explained that the delay in formalising positions in the state chapter was because Sabah PPBM’s registration with the Registrar of Societies had yet to be finalised.
“But whoever is not satisfied with appointed division leaders may mount a challenge for the post in the party elections,” Hajiji said. - FMT
Sudahlah! Next ge all katak ybs will surely kalah punya!
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