Federal BN intervening as Sabah Umno fractured, says analyst
Published on: Friday, March 29, 2024
By:
FMT, Ameer Fakhri
Sabah Umno has been split since the ‘Kinabalu Move’ drove a wedge between supporters of state chief Bung Moktar Radin (left) and deputy chief minister Shahelmey Yahya.
PETALING JAYA: An analyst believes the top Barisan Nasional leadership has had to step in to mitigate disputes between factions in Sabah Umno over its direction in the upcoming state election.
Lee Kuok Tiung of Universiti Malaysia Sabah pointed out that Warisan president Shafie Apdal’s announcement in December of an alliance with Sabah Umno was swiftly rubbished by Sabah Umno deputy chief Rahman Dahlan.
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Shafie had claimed during Warisan’s annual general assembly that Sabah Umno chief Bung Moktar Radin agreed to an alliance to take on Hajiji Noor’s Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS).
Bung, a former deputy chief minister, was at the assembly, fuelling speculation of a formal Sabah Umno-Warisan alliance.
“(The top BN leadership stepping in) was actually a surprise because, previously, they announced that they had given autonomy to Sabah BN,” Lee told FMT.
“In the end, it actually hints that there is something not right (in Sabah Umno). It means that the federal leadership does not endorse (the partnership with Warisan). Suddenly, they’re saying that they will decide, not the Sabah chapter.”
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Lee said the split within Sabah Umno stemmed from Bung’s failed attempt with Warisan to unseat Hajiji as the chief minister last year, which he dubbed the “Kinabalu Move”.
“After the ‘Kinabalu Move’, Sabah Umno was divided into Bung’s group and (Sabah) deputy chief minister Shahelmey Yahya’s group,” he said.
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Shahelmey and a handful of other Sabah assemblymen refused to retract their support for Hajiji despite Bung’s stand, leading to their suspension from Umno.
However, Hajiji made Shahelmey a deputy chief minister, taking over the post after Bung was sacked.
On Sunday, BN deputy chairman Mohamad Hasan said the federal BN leadership will have the final say on whether Sabah BN will go it alone or team up with any other party in the next state election, which is due next year.
This came in the wake of another statement from Shafie the day before, where the former Umno vice-president said Warisan and Sabah Umno had discussed a possible cooperation for the state polls.
Meanwhile, Oh Ei Sun of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs said the federal BN’s intervention reflected its reluctance to work with Warisan, which he described as a splinter party of Sabah Umno.
“The federal leadership is still very much somehow affiliated with Najib Razak, who fired Shafie from the Cabinet in 2015 before Shafie quit Umno.
“It is more than likely that Umno’s central leadership may not be as enthusiastic about working with Warisan (due to that), than concerns over antagonising GRS,” he said.
However, Oh said, Umno working with Warisan would avoid splitting their votes among themselves, thus preventing both parties from “cannibalising” each other at the polls.
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