BONGAWAN: The people of Sabah should reject any move to "Brexit" or bring them out of Barisan Nasional (BN) and Umno, which could negatively affect the political stability and economic growth of Sabah.Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (pic) said the opposition is attempting to influence Sabahans to do so in view of the coming 14th General Election (GE14).He said it would be a big loss to the people in Sabah if they heed the move as ties between the Sabah government and Federal are very close.
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"If the Sabah government 'coughs', we in Putrajaya (Federal) get fever and vice-versa, which show that we (State and Federal) need each other and care for each other. That's how close we are which resulted in many physical developments brought to Sabah."Just look at the Britons in United Kingdom who later regretted on the 'brexit' move although a referendum was carried out prior to a final decision to leave the European Union."Hence, the people of Sabah should reject such 'brexit' move and heed lessons from the past during Harris' and Pairin's (former CMs) time when they were the opposition in the 1980s which affected developments in Sabah," he said, after opening a group delegation meeting of Umno Zone 3 covering Umno Kimanis, Umno Papar and Umno Beaufort in SMK Bongawan, Saturday.He also announced RM1 million for each parliamentary area under Umno Zone 3 namely Papar, Kimanis and Beaufort for development that benefits the grassroots in their respective areas.
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Also present were Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman cum Umno Kimanis Divisional Chief, Umno Papar Divisional Chief Datuk Seri Abdul Rahim Ismail cum Pantai Manis assemblyman, Umno Beaufort Divisional Chief Datuk Isnain Aliasneh, National Umno Wanita Vice Chief Datuk Azizah Mohd Dun cum Beaufort MP, its exco member Datuk Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin cum Works Deputy Minister and delegations of the three Umno divisions.Ahmad Zahid who is also the Umno vice-president carrying out the duty of the party deputy president, said changing the party leadership in Sabah is not changing clothes for the sake of becoming stronger.
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"Sabah do not wish to be 'Brexit'in Malaysia like what had happened in the UK because it is not easy to run the country without the support of other counterparts."To prevent such happening, the people of Sabah must make sure that BN and Umno will not lose in the coming GE14 because if they are not in the same court as Putrajaya, it is not the leaders (opposition) that will feel the consequences but the people of Sabah," he said.Nonetheless, Ahmad Zahid said he has no doubt of the support and solidarity given by the people of Sabah to Umno as the backbone of the coalition which is extraordinary since Umno was established in Sabah 26 years ago.He said he has witnessed how the Sabah people felt the concern and attention shown by BN and Umno that have well look after their wellbeing and needs for over two decades."The strong confidence of Sabah people to BN and Umno can be proven based on a research by UiTM recently that showed the people of the State want BN to continue governing the State."The result of the study showed that 76 per cent of the Sabahans still need BN for the sake of continuation of bringing developments to Sabah so as to benefit the people while 71.2 per cent support BN that has successfully making transformations in the State."In other words, over 70 per cent of the people in Sabah still want and need BN to bring positive development changes and transformations that will forward the State towards excellence." Furthermore, Ahmad Zahid said Sabah being the youngest in the Umno family has been very loyal to the party and has over half a million party members or 561,000 which is the biggest in the country.He was also pleased to note that the three divisions and their wings are fully prepared to face the impending GE14 at any time as assured by Datuk Seri Anifah."The people of Sabah are very fortunate because their Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman and other Sabah leaders are well-known as credible leaders at the national level while Anifah as the Foreign Minister is a charismatic leader whom is well-respected by international leaders in the world."I have been following his (Anifah) development and work outside the country and in fact, we are lucky to have him (Anifah) as the Foreign Minister as he is well-accepted by the world leaders."When comes to international issues that concern Palestine, Syria and Iraq, his extraordinary 'fierceness' and firmness would emerge when addressing those pertinent issues," he said.Ahmad Zahid said party president Datuk Seri Najib Razak has entrusted him to look into internal issues faced by Umno divisions in Sabah and resolve them immediately.He said he is fully aware the existing infighting within some divisions and will deal with them accordingly as he would visit the State once every two weeks."In the previous GE13, Sabah won 48 seats out of 60 which was a commendable victory and now the number of those seats has increased to 73 seats under the re-delineation exercise."For distribution of the seats, I am calling on the component parties of BN not to pressure Chief Minister (Musa) on this, but instead, discuss amicably with each other. Because at the end of the day, what really important is that BN and Umno continue to govern Sabah and the country, which I believe is not impossible," he said.Ahmad Zahid said there are some former Umno leaders (including former Umno Vice-President Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal) who left the party and has changed their political stand and principles when they lost vital positions and power."These kind of leaders would say different things in the morning, noon, afternoon and night and they are inconsistent in their principles and political stand. "When they were in the party, they pledged to be loyal to the party leaders and its struggle. But when losing all important position, their tune changed. Thus, they cannot be trusted.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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