We did not force Anifah to recontest, said Bung

Sabah Umno chief Bung Mokhtar Radin says they wanted Anifah Aman to recontest as he still wields a lot of influence in Kimanis.

KIMANIS: Bung Mokhtar Radin has admitted that he was the one who had proposed Anifah Aman’s name to contest in the Kimanis by-election to party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

The Sabah Umno chief said there was no issue in forcing the incumbent Kimanis MP to contest again and the state chapter’s autonomy remains unaffected as Zahid had merely acted on behalf of the state chief’s suggestion.

“There was no issue about Zahid persuading and forcing Anifah to recontest in Kimanis.

“In the discussions with Anifah, he told us he wanted to focus on the 15th general election and, therefore, declined the offer,” he said here today.

Anifah’s aide earlier told FMT that Zahid had offered him the chance to contest in the by-election scheduled on Jan 18 next year on the Barisan Nasional ticket, but had declined the offer.

Bung noted the FMT report had been manipulated by rival Warisan leader Dr Yusof Yakob who claimed Zahid’s action in approaching Anifah showed that Sabah Umno is having an internal crisis.

Bung maintained that the matter was only the Sabah Umno’s suggestion to the president and therefore did not affect Sabah Umno’s autonomy.

Sabah Umno was granted autonomy at the recent Umno general meeting, allowing the state chapter to have more authority on deciding its direction, affairs and also poll candidates.

“There is no distrust between Sabah Umno and the central Umno leadership. Sabah Umno respects the president’s chair and it is the same with central Umno,” said Bung.

The Kinabatangan MP said the reason why Sabah Umno wanted Anifah to contest again was because he still has a major influence over the voters in the parliamentary constituency.

“But we respect his decision not to contest. We are also proud that Anifah is still for BN in retaining this parliamentary seat.“

Bung said Anifah had also been consistent in his struggles on state rights, the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and indigenous rights even after leaving Umno on Dec 12 last year.

He said the struggles are in line with Sabah Umno’s struggle, too.

Bung was in Kimanis to oversee the party’s machinery operations. - FMT