Anifah dumps Umno; more may follow
Published on: Thursday, September 20, 2018
Kota Kinabalu: Datuk Seri Anifah Aman (pic) became the first Sabah Member of Parliament to leave Umno, Wednesday, and the former Foreign Minister blamed the failure of Barisan Nasional (BN) and Umno to return Sabah's rights as stipulated in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) as among the reasons. He did not state whether he would join the ruling Pakatan Harapan through one of its components or form a party and seek admission into PH later.Nevertheless, speculation is rife that more Sabah Umno elected representatives would follow the Kimanis MP in leaving the once ruling party that expanded its wings outside the peninsula for the first time in 1990 before taking over the State Government from Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) through crossovers in 1994 and kept a firm grip on Sabah till the 14th general election in May, this year.
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Although the Umno-led Barisan Nasional managed to form the State Government through a simple majority following the May 9 elections, this year, it soon saw the carpet pulled from other its feet when several BN elected representatives from Upko and Umno hopped over to Warisan Sabah within days.This saw two chief ministers being appointed for the second time in the State's political history since 1985, with the first claimant, Anifah's brother Tan Sri Musa Aman, taking eventual CM Datuk Shafie Apdal to court. The verdict is due on Oct. 26.The other elected representatives to quit Sabah Umno which failed to win a single state government in the general elections were Datuk Hamisa Samat (Tg Batu), Datuk Bolkiah Ismail (Pitas), Jamawi Jaafar (Kemabong) and Sukau assemblyman Datuk Saddi Abdul Rahman. Except for Saddi who is still Independent, the rest have hopped over to Warisan.Anifah, who was an Umno Supreme Council and Umno Kimanis Division Chief, said:
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"I am making such decision after giving serious thought on it and also to fulfil my promise to all my voters in my constituency and to the people of Sabah, that I will resign all my posts in the party if Umno and BN fail to deliver its promises in relation to the MA63. I admit that without Umno and BN in power, my struggles would not bear fruit. Nonetheless, I am holding strong to what I have promised before that I will resign (all my posts in the party) if my struggles for the people of Sabah under the umbrella of the party, could not be continued.""My political struggle all this while has always been clear. I insist that I want the people of Sabah to receive equal treatment (as other citizens) and each of their rights to be fully implemented, without any delays and excuses...This is because MA63 is the beginning point of the formation of the federation we know as Malaysia today."
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He said at the same time, the Pakatan Harapan Federal Government should be committed in honouring their promises especially in returning the rights of Sabah and Sarawak as in line with the MA63.On Tuesday, Jeli MP cum Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Mustapha Mohamed announced his resignation on Tuesday. Prior to the exit of Anifah and Mustapa, three other MPs also quit Umno namely Masjid Tanah MP Mas Ermieyati Samsudin, Bukit Gantang MP Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal and Bagan Serai MP Noor Azmi Ghazali.Anifah thanked party president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and the whole party leadership and BN as well as at state-level party and Umno Kimanis members for their trust and support to him all this while.In 2016, Anifah was the first leader to initiate a forum in UMS on MA63 and brought all the opposition leaders such as Datuk Dr Jeffrey G Kitingan, and Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee, among others, to thoroughly discuss about Sabah rights in MA63.Subsequently, together with Jeffrey, and other leaders, Anifah submitted a memorandum to the then Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to seriously look into Sabah rights and returning them to Sabah and the people.With the departure of Anifah and Mustapha, the number of Umno MPs in the Dewan Rakyat is now at 49, which put them on par with PKR, the main component in the now ruling Pakatan Harapan.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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