Upko should have left long time ago if it is true – Jainab
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Umno Wanita chief Datuk Hajah Jainab Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Ahmad Ayid said United Pasokmomogum Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) should have withdrawn from the Barisan Nasional (BN) long before the 14th General Election (GE14), instead of waiting only after it is over, if it truly feel unhappy and being sidelined by BN.
She said the people of Sabah should ask Upko why it continued to stick to BN if the BN and Umno had been bullying it before the GE14, and that why it only abandoned BN when its top leaders saw opportunities to get top cabinet posts under the Warisan-led State Government.
Upko’-s sudden departure, which happened just as the BN and STAR had formed a coalition state government after the GE14, came as a big surprise for all the BN component parties as well as all BN supporters and voters in Sabah, she said.
All knows that Upko was also given cabinet posts for its senior leaders then, under the State BN and Star coalition government, after the GE14, which was a proof that the BN or Umno never bullied or sidelined any of its component parties, she said.
“More surprising and saddening is that Upko did not just left BN, but then accused BN and especially Umno of having bullied Upko and its leaders, which is very untrue as we all know that BN always works based on consensus.
“It was very shocking to have such senior and experienced leader like Upko Acting President Datuk Seri Panglima Wilfred Madius Tangau and its other leaders to utter serious and baseless accusations against former BN friends whom they had worked along with, and who had helped and supported them during the GE14 and throughout the time when they were with the BN,” she said in support of earlier statements by State Umno Liaison Chairman Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Hajiji Haji Noor against Tangau and other Upko leaders.
Jainab, who is former Community Development and Consumer Affairs Minister and ex-Karambunai assemblywoman, said the move by Datuk Dr Marcus Mojigoh who has quit as vice president and treasurergeneral posts in Upko because of Tangau is a strong proof of who he (Tangau) is and how overambitious he is.
Mojigoh, who however retained his Putatan Upko Division Chief post, had explained that his decision had something to do with Tangau, who he claimed was scared of all senior party members and had allegedly given the gag order against Mojigoh to speak out to the media.
He had also claimed that the departure of the party members, including senior members, was also due to the present leadership, which he alleged is ‘arrogant’ and minta puji.
Jainab also concurred with Mojigoh that Sabah Umno also has many leaders and members of Kadazandusun and Murut descent, and that is why the call by Upko for Umno to stick to Malaya is very hurtful.
“That remarks which came from Tangau is very hurtful for Sabah Umno leaders and members who used to work with Upko when it was still in BN before,” she said.
Jainab, who is also Sepanggar Wanita Umno chief, is also fully agreed with Sabah Umno Information Chief Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia’s statement that Upko should not be too quick to dismiss the previous Umnoled State Government as kowtowing to Kuala Lumpur and giving the impression that it can survive without the latter’s support.
“It is another lie given by Upko just so to get the people of Sabah to support the party. People know that the Warisan-led State Government, which Upko is now a part of it, is part of the Pakatan Harapan Federal Government... the Warisan-led State Government is not an opposition to the Federal Government, so how can you say the Sabah State Government stands on its own and has nothing to do with the Federal Government and the Federal Government has nothing to do with or has no influence over the Sabah State Government,” she said.
Pandikar was reportedly said that the new Warisan-led State Government would now have to beg KL and cited three reasons.
Firstly, Pandikar said to beg KL to support the survival of the government. If the Federalled parties such as Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and Democratic Action Party (DAP) do not support Warisan, then the current government would not be in existence.
Secondly, he said beg KL for financial support for the development of the State of Sabah as aspired by Sabahans as the revenue of the State Government alone would not be sufficient to develop Sabah.
And thirdly, as a government whose existence is owed purely to frog politics, it should not and cannot claim that it is mighty in the eyes of the people and Kuala Lumpur, said Pandikar.