Sabah Umno denies buying reps to trigger change of state gov't

Sabah Umno has denied allegations by Sabah Chief Minister Shafie Apdal that the party and its former chief minister Musa Aman are "buying representatives" in order to overthrow the state government which is currently helmed by Shafie's Parti Warisan Sabah.

Sabah Umno chief Bung Moktar Radin (above) said the statements issued by the Warisan leader were an “extreme provocation and seditious in nature”.

Bung claimed that it was the Warisan government that was a back door government in the true sense and the government was shaking because of its inability to govern the state.

"The instability in the administration of Shafie and Warisan shows that it is made up of leaders who practice the denial syndrome and do not work for the people.

"It has nothing to do with the allegations that Umno is working to seize power. The government they founded by the back door has never been strong since the beginning," he said in a statement today.

In a press conference in Kota Kinabalu, Shafie, who is also Semporna MP, claimed that there was an attempt by the opposition to buy over Warisan representatives.

Shafie (photo) had questioned the acquittal of former chief minister Musa Aman on 46 graft charges yesterday, saying that kleptocracy was still alive.

He said that the state government still had a big majority in the state assembly and is solid.

“We still have the majority. What tools will they be using? We can’t stop them as politicians, they have a lot of money to buy (sic).

“So they can entice our people with money and posts, but don’t tell me the MACC won’t notice," said Shafie.

Yesterday, eight Warisan MPs issued a joint statement rubbishing a report suggesting that a number of them were about to exit the party and had reaffirmed their leadership for party president Shafie.

In response, Bung cynically reminded the Warisan leader that Bung himself was content to face charges in court without resorting to excessive provocation.

Elsewhere, Sabah Umno Youth chief Abdul Aziz Julkarnain (photo) did not dismiss rumours that some Warisan and Pakatan Harapan representatives could soon be supporting a Perikatan Nasional government.

"The political scene in Sabah is hot and volatile. The representatives of the people, under the leadership of Shafie, have no way of developing the state, and instead are practicing nepotism and adopting an illegal immigrant-friendly policy," he told Malaysiakini.

Abdul Aziz added that he was confident that the politicians in Sabah were mature and would put the state's interests first.

"I believe the politicians in Sabah practise the politics of maturity. They will always put Sabah's interests above other interests," he added. - Mkini