Anwar won’t stick neck out for Zahid, says source
“Bung has influence over 25 Umno division leaders in Sabah. Zahid needs their backing to ensure that no one contests him for the party presidency.
(FMT) – An Umno insider has lamented Anwar Ibrahim’s refusal to mediate a full resolution of the ongoing Sabah political crisis after the prime minister expressed support for GRS’ Hajiji Noor to continue as chief minister following brief meetings with warring parties in Kota Kinabalu on Monday.
“Anwar spent a mere couple of hours in Sabah to discuss the matter even though the situation was bound to affect Zahid (Ahmad Zahid Hamidi) and may result in him losing the party presidency,” the source told FMT.
“Despite their relationship, Anwar obviously does not want to stick his neck out for Zahid.”
Likewise, a source in Pakatan Harapan said Sabah PH’s assemblymen were not prepared to take any deal offered to them by Sabah Umno chief Bung Moktar Radin.
“They know that if they do, they will have to answer to Anwar who clearly does not want to wade into the controversy,” he said.
On Friday, Sabah Barisan Nasional and Umno retracted their support for Hajiji amid speculation that they were intent on working together with Warisan to form a new state government.
That endeavour failed after Hajiji secured the support of 43 assemblymen, including all seven from PH Sabah and five from Umno Sabah who defied Bung to stay loyal to the chief minister.
As a result, only five Umno members remain in government, while seats assigned to Bung and the 11 other assemblymen from the party were moved over to the opposition bloc when the legislative assembly sat on Monday.
The setback suffered by Umno in Sabah is expected to dominate the party’s general assembly to be held from today until Saturday.
The Umno insider told FMT that Zahid was simply looking to please Bung when he got involved in the matter.
“Bung has influence over 25 Umno division leaders in Sabah. Zahid needs their backing to ensure that no one contests him for the party presidency.
“The Sabah crisis is unlikely to affect the unity government at the federal level as there is an agreement already in place, but it will surely impact Umno’s party elections,” said the source.
He said Zahid will be in a “state of panic” if the Sabah delegates withdrew their support from him.
However, he stressed that it was Bung Moktar who miscalculated.
“To be fair, his narrative is not completely wrong. Strictly speaking, the assemblymen who left Bersatu are operating without a party. The role of chief minister should be given to someone from a political party,” he said.
