Jeffrey (left) and Lee.
SANDAKAN (March 29): There is no issue of splitting among Sabah Umno members in determining the issue of cooperation with other parties to face the upcoming 17th State Election (PRN17).
Sabah Umno Elections director Jeffery Nor Mohamed said this matter is still at the preliminary discussion stage, and has not been finalised.
According to him, any proposal for cooperation with other parties has not been submitted to the central BN for discussion.
Jeffery, who is also the Putatan Umno chief, said he was surprised when someone who is not a politician and is not in the Umno/BN is more knowledgeable about the current position and situation of Umno and the Sabah Barisan Nasional, which is allegedly divided into two groups in determining cooperation with other parties to face PRN17.
According to him, even though the individual is a political analyst, not all of his writings and views are accurate about the current political issues in Sabah. Moreover his writings and views are not based on facts and favor one side only.
Jeffery said this following a media statement by political analyst Lee Kuok Tiung from University of Malaysia Sabah (UMS), which was published on a national portal recently.
“This is just his (Lee’s) personal view which is trying to create perception and speculation to damage the image of Umno/BN Sabah. The public already knows that his writings are in favor of the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS),” he said after attending the Umno Zone 5 fast breaking ceremony involving the Umno Divisions of Libaran, Kinabatangan, Sandakan Batu Sapi and Beluran at the Seri Aman Raya Mosque in Pekan Muhibbah Sandakan, on Thursday.
According to Jeffery, Lee’s prejudiced and non-factual views reflect the level of his shallowness in delving into and commenting on real political issues in Sabah.
“To Lee’s knowledge, the party given autonomy is Sabah Umno and not BN.
“So, any decision involving BN will be decided by the top leadership of Central BN,” he said.
Jeffery added that although the matter of Umno/BN cooperation with other parties has not yet been finalised to face the upcoming PRN17, GRS already feels angry and scared when the issue of cooperation is mentioned and has to use various mediums to curb the rise of the people to change the new government in the upcoming PRN17.
Jeffery said there was no issue of Sabah Umno splitting on the assumption of a power grab or the “Langkah Kinabalu” that had been hyped before.
“Langkah Kinabalu is an extreme presumption, because until now there is no evidence of the submission of a sworn statement (SD) to the Head of State (TYT) as happened in 2020 when a group led by Tan Sri Musa Aman, most of whom were joined by the leaders who were in GRS to overthrow the Warisan government at that time.
“After the Langkah Kinabalu allegation, Sabah Umno is still strong, but there are a number of leaders who have no principle of struggle and prioritise personal interests. That is not a picture of Sabah Umno being divided,” he explained.
