Umno Sabah feud

Sabah Umno tussle stalling state development

Umno vice president Shafie tells the Sabah government not to block projects initiated by his ministry out of fear that he wanted to take over the state.

PAPAR: A tussle for power in Sabah Umno is holding up the distribution of development funds and the implementation of rural projects in the state.

Shafie Apdal, the under siege Umno vice president, confronted his detractors in Sabah aligned to Chief Minister Musa Aman who alleged that he is planning to topple the present state leadership,  and urged the state government to remove the blocks to projects his ministry had approved.

The national Rural and Regional Development Minister said he was merely doing his job going around the state to see first hand specific areas where his ministry could help bring development.

Suspicions have been raised among those close to Musa that Shafie and his circle are bent on wresting the Chief Minister’s post from Musa and the situation has reached the extent where a concerted effort has been made to prevent him from speaking to Umno delegates in various divisions around the state.

Acknowledging this after officiating at the Papar Umno annual delegates’ conference at Dewan Datuk Salleh Sulong here Saturday, he said he had “no problem with other people … they (may) have problems with me,” in reference to the “cold war” among Sabah Umno leaders.

He was asked to comment on the statement by Umno Youth wing chief, Khairy Jamaluddin that the change in the state Umno Youth leadership happened because of the “cold war” between the Umno leaders in Sabah.
“When I was the Defence Deputy Minister, I used to come down to Semporna and when I was the Minister of (Domestic Trade and) Consumer Affairs I used to go to Semporna too until people claimed I only prioritise Semporna.

“So when I go to other villages, people say I want to overturn the government. How can it be that because I want to build homes for the needy that I want to take over power?” asked the Sabah born leader.
Shafie said it was up to the top leadership to make appointments because the positions are not a right nor it can be demanded.

“I am not saying that we must get this and not get that (because) this is up to the leadership,” he said.
“Our position will not be forever and this is politics. But I have no problems (with other Umno leaders),” he said, adding that in this respect, he had proposed that major projects under his ministry to be launched by state heads to share the success.
Work towards GE

In a thinly veiled criticism of his detractors, he said they should pay more attention on resolving problems in the state in order to face the impending 13th general election with confidence.
“I don’t have this big ambition and obsession to grab positions but what I am chasing after is to serve for the people,” he told the delegates.

He said his ministry was given the biggest allocation ever to the tune of more than RM16 billion to be channeled for the development to all the states in the country within three years.

“And you say I am power crazy (but) my ministry’s allocation is so much bigger than the budget allocation for Sabah or Sarawak, Johor among others,” he said.

Shafie said that as party vice president he had been invited to officiate the opening of several Umno divisional meetings in the peninsula and that there was no reason for him not to accept the invitation from the Papar division.

He said there had been several other allegations hurled against him just because he was doing his work.
“But I am a man of clear conscience. I won’t talk differently behind other people’s back … it is important to be truthful, sincere and struggle for the people. To me politics is the best platform for us to work together and help the people,” he said.

He said one should not fear in fighting for the truth for the benefit of the people as this was what Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak was actually doing through the reform exercises so that the people would support the government.

“Just because we are in power we are complacent, we fail to help the people,” he said, adding that such situation would make it difficult for Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition to win the coming election.
Rapping his colleagues within Sabah Umno for creating disunity within the party, he said leaders at all levels must remain united and prevent crony politics in Sabah Umno.

Shafie also said that the state authorities must also expedite the implementation of all development projects approved by his ministry for Sabah.

“If we continue to delay it I am sure the people will lose their patience and we may pay the price in the coming election,” he said.

“Be united … don’t jostle for positions and don’t be afraid to lose these positions or properties because if we cannot bring all with us when we die,” he said.

By Charlie Rudai FMT

UMNO Sabah's voluptuous appetite

Umno also wants seat in Pensiangan, Putatan, Merotai...

KENINGAU: Umno Pensiangan division has urged the Umno Supreme Council and Barisan Nasional (BN) leadership to consider allowing the party to contest one of the seats in the Pensiangan parliamentary constituency in the next general election.

Pensiangan seat is presently held by Datuk Joseph Kurup from PBRS (The only seat held by BN-PBRS)
The division chief, Datuk Abdul Ghani Datuk Mohd Yassin, said the call was not for his personal interest but in the interest of Umno and BN.

“What is important is for Umno to remain relevant, the BN strong, the state and country secure and prosperous," he said in his speech during the Pensiangan . Umno delegates meeting at the Perkasa Hotel here on Saturday.

The meeting was officiated by Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Abdul Ghani said Pensiangan Umno division has grown in strength with 146 branches and 11,301 registered members.

Umno members represent 49 percent of the 20,975 registered voters in the Pensiangan parliamentary constituency.

"Fifty-seven per cent of Umno members in this division comprise those from the non-Muslim communities," he said.

He said members of the division had also attended a course held in Tuaran recently and found it useful to ensure victory for the BN in the next general election.

"I express hope and confidence that Umno will be given the opportunity to contest in an area within the Pensiangan area," Abdul Ghani said.

To strengthen the claim, Abdul Ghani said, Pensiangan is the only constituency where Umno has no representation, unlike Keningau, Tenom and Ranau.

He said another factor that has attracted the people in the division to support Umno and the BN government is the dynamism and the pragmatic leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Haji Aman.

Source: The Borneo Post by Johan Aziz


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PBRS says may review position

KOTA KINABALU: Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS) may reconsider its position in the Barisan Nasional (BN) if Umno insists on getting all the seats in Sabah.

PBRS President Tan Sri, Joseph Kurup said this in expressing disappointment with the statement by Umno Vice President Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who openly called for the Pensiangan seat to be given to Umno in next general election.

"He should not have made such a statement because it will raise the hopes of Umno in Pensiangan that they will get the chance to stand in the coming election.

"But in the event this do not happen there is a great possibility that there would be elements of sabotage so that the contesting component party will end up losing.

"This will then open up the avenue for them (Umno) to demand for the seat next time," he said. Sunday.

According to him. the Pensiangan Parliamentary seat, which is held by him is now steady and “we (PBRS) are confident that we will be able to defend it safely in the next election".

He said Umno should, instead, focus on the seats that it lost in the 2008 election and "not disturb seats that have potential to be won by a coalition partner".

"If Umno insist on getting all the seats in Sabah, including Pensiangan, then we will not force ourself inside BN," Kurup, who is also the Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, said.

"We will raise the issue in the BN Supreme Council meeting because we strongly believe that PBRS has the chance to win for BN in Pensiangan, but with such statement it will only weaken the BN there," he said.

Zahid had said that Pensiangan Umno must be given at least one seat to contest in the coming election and that he would petition the PM and CM about it.

Zahid said such a move was vital if Sabah desires to continue being a "fixed deposit" for the BN Government.

"How can you keep on being a fixed deposit if the backbone is not given support," he said, adding the move to put Umno in the constituency " does not mean we want to replace the current YBs".

more...................................



Concern over Umno’s demand for seats: Upko

MENGGATAL: United Pasok Momogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) has denied an allegation that the party has been "pinching members" of another component party in Putatan.

Its Sec-Gen, Datuk Wilfred Madius Tangau said it is also not a new issue as it is actually happening all over including in his hometown, Tuaran.

"In the past, we know one of the reasons Umno is claiming basically for Putatan is based on a reaction that there is an allegation of component parties are pinching their members.

"If that (Umno) is their right to make a demand, then it has raised a lot of concerns among component parties because Umno has been demanding seats...not just Putatan but also other constituencies in Sabah.

"We have brought this up before, and you can see that the party (Umno) is demanding for seats...for instance Merotai seat that belongs to Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and now you can see what is happening to LDP now.

"Not only that, it is also happening in my area, Turaran, where our head party branches are offered the posts of headmen in return for some attractive things, which I feel it is very unhealthy.

"I think the Barisan Nasional (BN) leadership should address this. At the end of the day, whatever the demand is from BN component parties, I hope we can still able to sit down and trash the issues out."

Madius, who was formerly Tuaran MP, said this to reporters when met during Upko Open House Celebration of Tadau Kaamatan Upko 2011 opened by the Head of State Tuan Haji Juhar Haji Mahiruddin, at the community hall here, Sunday.

He was commenting on an article in a local paper here Sunday that reported Umno Putatan is crying foul over the act of a particular BN component party, which it claimed has been pinching Umno members in its constituency.

The member-pinching issues was brought up during the division's delegates meeting held at Wisma Pertanian on Saturday, with members calling for the party's leadership to take firm action to address the unhealthy development.

Deputy Chief Minister-cum-Petagas Assemblyman, Datuk Yahya Hussin, who officiated the meeting, said the particular BN component party has been persuading Umno members in the constituency, especially those from Sembulan area to jump ship by offering them projects in return.

At the end of the day, Madius said all the component parties under BN will be using only one symbol that is BN symbol regardless number of seats the parties have.

Source: Daily Express 16 May 2011 by Hayati Dzulkifli

Carrot and Stick approach to LDP

LDP's Chin to be made Senator?

Kota Kinabalu: Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Deputy President Datuk Chin Su Phin is expected to be appointed a Senator, it was reliably learnt.

Sources, however, told Daily Express that Chin's impending appointment, if it materialises, would need the consent of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. His appointment may be in the wake of LDP's dissatisfaction after the party was left without a State Cabinet member following a recent reshuffle.

The party's former representative in the Cabinet, Datuk Peter Pang recently joined fellow BN component party Gerakan after being "partyless" for months. But he had all the time remained a Minister.

LDP then described the Chief Minister's move as not being in the BN spirit.

There are two ways in which a Member of the Upper House of Parliament (Dewan Negara) can be appointed.

One is through nomination by the State Legislative Assembly whereby each State is allowed to nominate two. The other is through direct appointment by the King after being recommended by the Prime Minister.

The last time LDP had a Senator was many years ago in Datin Naomi Chong, the former chief of the party's women wing.

It is not known if Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman had a hand in Chin's appointment but the Chief Minister did say after the LDP's outburst that the party would be "compensated" through other means.

Meanwhile, the sources added that in the event of a Federal Cabinet reshuffle, LDP President Datuk VK Liew stands a good chance of being promoted to a full Minister. He is currently a Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of, among other things, judicial matters. Liew is a lawyer.

The sources said by appointing Chin and possibly Liew later on, the Prime Minister hopes to kill two birds with one stone. The first is to pacify LDP.

The sources pointed out that with the next nationwide general election expected any time, the BN chairman cannot afford to see in-fighting amongst its coalition partners.

Secondly, by making Liew a full Federal Minister, Najib hopes to woo back some Chinese votes to the BN in the light of in-road gains by the Opposition in the recent Sarawak election. In the last Sabah election in 2008, BN component member PBS lost a parliamentary seat and a State seat, narrowly winning another.

If Liew's appointment materialises, it will be the second time LDP has a full Minister in the Federal Cabinet, the first being Tan Sri Chong Kah Kiat, then a Senator, in the early and mid-1990s before he came back to Sabah to join the State Cabinet.

LDP blasts Gerakan Au for Greed

SANDAKAN: The Labeling of Liberal Democraric party (LDP) as termites by Elopura assemblyman Au Kam Wah Is uncalled for, said Albert Kok, the political secretary to Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk VK Liew.

"The statement by Au, who ditched SAPP in 2008 and joined Gerakan later, alleging LDP to clamour for positions could not be more true about himself and the party he just joined.


It is widely known that he together with Raymond Tan abandoned SAPP so that they both can keep their positions in the government Au should therefore look at himself in the mirror and his own 'new party' before he talked about others,” Kok said.

He said despite losing in the last election in 2008 and Gerakan almost wiped out, Koh Tsu Koon made himself available as a senator and accepted the offer to be a federal minister, Even his previous predecessor, Tun Lim Keng Yaik, was reported to have advised Koh against accepting but he could not care less and instead accepted the position with open arms.

"As one of the more senior members in BN, when the State Government offer to retain Peter Pang, who had quit LDP to join Gerakan, Koh should be wise enough not to accept the offer as there was already another new Gerakan member namely Raymond Tan in the State Cabinet.

"However, knowing it would draw the ire and condemnation of the people in Sabah, and knowing that Gerakan has not contested in Sabah in the last general election, Koh gladly accepted it. Is this not reflection of their own greed to clamour for governnent’s positions?" Kok said in a statement yesterday.

He added that Peter Pang had only been in Gerakan for less than two days but he continued to be retained as Minister of Youth and Sport under Gerakan.

Au is relatively a more 'senior' member in Gerakan than Peter Pang, an assemblyman for Elopura earlier before even Peter Pang knew what politics was and more experienced then Peter Pang starting from his time in SAPP, he said.

"It is odd that he was not preferred by his new boss to be in the recent cabinet reshuffle. Was it because he was offered to continue to hold the positions of chairman in other government agencies in Sabah?

"If Au is a man of principle at all and subscribe to the BN's principle, he should be the first one to tell his new found party leader that it was against BN s principle to accept Peter Pang who quit LDP to join another BN component party namely Gerakan,” he said.

But Au kept quiet and gladly welcomed Peter Pang, unashamedly, because by doing so he knows Gerakan has now another cabinet position in the government. That speaks volume of Au’s personality, said Kok.

He said before criticising others, Au should put his new house in order first.

"Au should tell his new found leader to be changed first and take responsibility for the losses suffered by his new party in the last election.

"Ong Ka Ting, despite having won his parliamentary seat in 2008, took responsibility for the losses MCA suffered in the election. Ong resigned as MCA president then and Ong Tee Keat took over before being taken over by Chua Soi Lek.

"It shows that at least Ong Ka Ting has principle and does not clamour for government position unlike some.

"We have seen MCA openly asking for the change of leadership in Sarawak following the recent election there. In fact many others have indicated the same sentiment.

"Does it mean that the BN government in Sarawak must also issue a show cause letter to all those who asked for the CM of Sarawak to go?

“In this regard, Au Kam Wah should tell his liaison chief in Sabah, Gordon Leong, to understand politics better and read what had happened,” he said.

Kok said if indeed there were any change of leadership required, Au should suggest changes in Gerakan’s central leadership and that include those in Sabah.

Source: BP

Azman victim of Shafie-Musa feud?

By Admin
The controversy over the sudden sacking of Sabah UMNO Youth Azman Roslan last week that had local youth leaders fuming has its roots in ongoing feud between Sabah UMNO chieftain Datuk Musa Aman and rival Datuk Shafie Adqal, according to political analysts in Sabah.

Shafie, who hails from Semporna in the east coast of Sabah, is reportedly furious that his pet tourism project, the Regatta Lepa Lepa,  to boost tourism in Semporna two weeks ago was boycotted by Sabah state ministers.

“None of the state leaders, not even the state minister of tourism, Datuk Masidi Manjun, cared to show up at the Lepa Lepa event. This was a big slap in the face for Shafie in the eyes of the local people and government officials.

The idea of the State government led by Musa is to make Shafie look small and useless,“ said an informed source in Kota Kinabalu.

Local newspapers showed only Shafie doing the “daling daling” dance. It was noticed that only fellow Semporna Minister, Datuk Nasir Tun Sakaran, a cousin of Shafie, did show up at the regatta but kept a low profile.

The other two UMNO assemblymen from Semporna, Datuk Hj. Ramlee Marahaban and Datuk Haji Harman Mohamad who are staunch Musa loyalists, were conspicuously absent.

Rahim and FELCRA


Another Musa critic in the Sabah UMNO circle is Papar divisional chief, Datuk Rahim Ismail, who was unceremoniously dropped as a state cabinet member in spite of his excellent performance as minister of agriculture before.

Rahim is currently the four-term assemblyman for Pantai Manis in Papar, about  100km south of the capital city of Kota Kinabalu. Rahim had been touted as a potential chief minister before the general elections of 2008 in view of his seniority, experience and flawless record as a state minister.

News reports recently announced Rahim as the chairman of a subsidiary company of Felcra (Federal Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority).

The last straw for Musa is the appointment of Azman to some post in the Felcra organization by Shafie which was seen as a move to build up Shafie’s UMNO base in Sabah.

It is no coincidence that FELCRA comes under Shafie who is the federal ministry of rural development.

Kalabakan Umno Wants LDP Merotai Seat

TAWAU: Kalabakan Umno wants the Merotai state seat which now is represented by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to be returned to Umno at the next election.

Its chief Datuk Abdul Ghapur Salleh said Kalabakan Umno was making the demand because LDP leaders lately had been making press statements which were not line with the Barisan Nasional (BN) spirit.

"How can we trust LDP to contest the Merotai seat when they do not show respect for Umno and its leaders," he told reporters after chairing a Kalabakan Umno division meeting here Sunday.
He added that as a component party of the BN, LDP should raise any grievances it had with the state BN leadership and not resort to the media to attack state leaders.

"Although the LDP president (Datuk V.K Liew) has disavowed media statements made by his deputy (Datuk Chin Su Phin), Kalabakan Umno cannot accept this," stressed Ghapur, who is also the MP for Kalabakan.

-- BERNAMA

Umno Sabah's Musa-Shafie rivalry

In an apparent show of support to battered Chief Minister Datuk Musa Aman, UMNO flew a delegation of Umno community leaders from Semporna, home base of rival Datuk Shafie Apdal, to the State capital to pose witht the CM.

This has taken the Musa-Shafie feud to another level beyond the LDP-Musa spat.

LDP: State assembly speaker must remain neutral

It is not right for the speaker to make political statements, says Chin Su Phin


KOTA KINABALU: Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) deputy president Chin Su Phin took to task State Legislative Assembly Speaker Salleh Tun Said for making political statements in the media.

Salleh should learn from Dewan Rakyat Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia and remain neutral, he said when commenting on Salleh’s recent statement in support of Chief Minister Musa Aman.

“Maybe it was not your (Salleh) own decision. If your ‘taiko’ wants to make a political statement, he should look for other leaders because it is inappropriate for the speaker of the state assembly to issue political statement,” said Chin.

On his views on the recent Sarawak state election, Chin said it was his personal observations.

“What’s wrong if I spoke about the reality of the Sarawak state election? he asked.

Chin reiterated that apart from the Chinese community, the Malays, the Kadazandusun community and even certain leaders from Umno and the civil servants were not satisfied with the way Musa has been handling things and problems affecting the BN and the people of Sabah.

“It’s not that I am creating problem within the BN. Today, Umno and its leaders are still our (LDP) good friend… I never complained about Umno. I merely commented on one particular Umno leader who is not accepted by certain quarters.

“They should not forget that even during Pak Lah’s (Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) time as prime minister, some Umno leaders had asked him to step down because of his weakness.

Wake up

During the Sarawak state election, even MCA was asking Abdul Taib Mahmud to step down as chief minister so that the BN would not be adversely affected during the election.

“Today, we see the same problems in Sabah and I don’t see any reason why we should not speak up. We can see that certain leaders are denying the reality and they only want a review after the election about the reason for BN’s loss,” he said in a statement.

Chin recounted that when Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) was in power, the party was as bold in voicing out problems affecting the state and the people.

“As members of the BN coalition, we should solve problems together . But, those leaders with government posts never want to speak up so I would like to advise fellow BN partners to wake up,” he said.

Chin said the Kadazandusun and Murut communities are now giving stronger support to Upko than the PBS, mainly due to the fact that Upko has now become more vocal than ever in speaking up for the people.

On Youth and Sports Minister Peter Pang’s recent accusation that he (Chin) was arrogant, Chin replied: “I don’t want to comment on his personality. Let the people judge him.”

“When Pang was in LDP I never commented about him and after he quit the party, I never commented about him either. If he is so good in politics, he should not have left LDP and crossed over to Gerakan.”

Chin assured fellow partners in the state BN that the LDP will not change its stand and will continue to soldier on until the problems within the coalition are solved.

“As part of the BN coalition, it is our responsibility to bring up whatever problems we have. We do not want Sabah to be the next Sarawak where the BN won in the state election but lost the Chinese seats ,” he said.

“We have a similar problem in Sabah and should the state BN government refuse to accept the changes, the people would go against us and it will be a loss to the BN,” he said.

Michael Kaung

Stop making Mahathir scapegoat, PBS is told

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah's economic position might be better today had there been political honesty and honour in Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan and Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) during the party's nine-year rule.

Pantai Manis Umno Chief Datuk Abdul Rahim Ismail claimed PBS failed to produce a creditable economic plan or management and that Sabah's economic fairs were conducted on a day-to-day basis.

"Nobody knew what was coming or going. In other words. Sabah under
PBS, at best, was just muddling through. Under this sort of environment. it was not surprising that the RM12.5 billion reserve accumulated by Datuk Harris Salleh was soon gone and by the time Pairin stepped down, there was a deficit of acre than RM12.5 billion, a swing of RM5 billion," he said, in a statement, Sunday.

Referring to the report in the Daily Express on April 1 under the headline "Sabah Suffered Much Under Mahathir: PBS", Rahim said a more appropriate headline would be "Sabah Suffered Much Under Pairin".

In the first instance, he said Pairin should have recognised that he and PBS were and up to this day not "national political material".

"Put it bluntly, he should not have tried to indulge in the 'Big Boy' game of national politics. By playing Dr Mahathir against Tengku Razaleigh and vice versa and pulling out of BN at the last minute before the 1990 General election, the true colours of Pairin and PBS were revealed.

Having done the 'Brutus' on Dr Mahathir and Umno, how cann PBS expect Dr Mahathir to invite them to a VIP banquet? As they say, the rest is history," he said.

After the election, Pairin tried to perpetuate his own political ambition and PBS' rule by exploiting the "Anti West Malaysian and Federal Government sentiments" among Sabahans.

"A leopard cannnot change its spots. PBS reneged on a pre-election agreement cooperation with Tun Mustapha/Usno immediately after the 1985 State Election, when they had learned they had won sufficient number of seats to form the Government," he said.

Rahim said while they were creating a messy political situation, the worst was yet to come in the economic front, the repercussions of which would burden Sabahans up to this day and for a long time to come.

"For reasons best known to Pairin, a 'Sabah cheap sale' was started.

"Assets belonging to Sabah that were worth selling had been sold, the big majority, of which to non-Sabahans and public-listed companies.

"Likewise, many so-called JVs at terms highly unfavourable to Sabah were entered into with non-Sabahan companies," he said.

Rahim named them, among others, Rekas Halus, Sabah Gas Industries, Sabah Forest Industries, Sapi Plantation, Asia City, Cathay Cinema, Tanjung Aru Beach Hotel, Api Api Centre and Centre Point.

"Approvals for alienation of hundreds of thousands of acres were given to PBS leaders and supporters at low premium. They then sold them at great profits to non-Sabahan companies, most of which were PLCs from West Malaysia.

"This is how more than 85 percent of the oil palm industry is now owned by non-Sabahans," he said, adding that during the nine years of PBS rule, logs in millions of cubic metres from Sabah Foundation and Sabah Forest industry had been exported at greatly deflated prices to enrich a very selected few.

"Had PBS discharged its fiduciary duty in the way it should have been done, the reserve of RM2.5 billion from Harris, all the lands which have been alienated to PBS leaders and supporters and sold to non-Sabahans and the sales proceeds of all the logs could have been utilised to build a good future for all Sabahans.

"The reality is that PBS had mismanaged the economy of Sabah and cheap-sold Sabah's assets. Dr Mahathir was not responsible for Sabah's sufferings. It was PBS," he claimed.

Thus, Rahim said, had Pairin cooperated with Dr Mahathir and had not pulled out of BN in 1990, Sabah would have been much better off.

"Knowing Dr Mahathir, he would have accorded all possible assistance and allocated Federal funds to develop Sabah as he had done for Sarawak, which by the way, has the second highest GDP per capita in the country in 2009. Sabah's position is 13th," he said.

Blaming Mahathir is unbecoming

"If PBS thinks that Sabah has suffered much under Dr Mahathir, why did Pairin try all sorts of ways to crawl back to BN, including begging for assistance of Tan Sri Chong Kah Mat to intercede on his behalf?

"On being accepted back, he even kissed the hand of Dr Mahathir. And promptly declared that he had always been a secret admirer of Dr Mahathir.

"I think Dr Mahathir was big hearted to put the 'back stabbing incident' behind him and in the interest of nation building, accepted Pairin and PBS back into the BN's fold.

"Blaming Dr Mahathir for the sufferings of Sabah is, therefore, most unbecoming. Such arrogance could only emanate from a political party that is basking with pride on having been endowed with the appointment of a second Deputy Chief Minister recently," said Rahim.