Regain lost seats from Umno leaders — Bung Moktar

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Umno needs to rise and reclaim its dignity in the upcoming 17th state election in order to regain the seats from Umno leaders who have now joined Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS).

Its chief, Datuk Seri Panglima Bung Moktar Radin, said those who left the party were given the trust to contest in seats which were traditionally Umno’s.

However, because they prioritized power and positions, they were willing to sacrifice the principles of struggle and loyalty to the party and left Umno without the consent of supporters in their respective areas, Bung Moktar claimed.

“They contested under the Umno ticket, won because of Umno party machinery support. They compromised the principles of struggle. Therefore in the coming state election, we need to rise and reclaim their seats,” he said at the Umno Sabah Zone 1 iftar program in Kota Belud recently.

Zone 1 comprises Kota Belud, Kudat, Kota Marudu and Tuaran.

Bung Moktar who is also Barisan Nasional (BN) Sabah chairman added, “To reclaim the respective State Legislative Assembly seats, we need to work as a team. Success will not be achieved without the support of the Umno’s wings and our comrades in BN. Without effort, determination, hard work, and well-organized strategies from the party machinery, we will not achieve the desired results,” he said.

He also said that Umno’s victory in Kota Belud is important since Sabah Umno was born in Kota Belud, and the area is a stronghold of the party as it won the two State seats, Usukan and Tempasuk.

“We will defend the Usukan seat, we will recapture the Tempasuk seat, and we do not rule out the possibility of fielding Umno candidate in the Pintasan seat if there are suitable candidates, or we will support other parties that will collaborate with Umno/BN to ensure that we conquer this area in the upcoming state election,” he said.

Bung Moktar also reminded all party machinery to start moving now and reminded the party’s branch leadership to update their membership list.

“We need to clean up the party membership list, let those who have defected go. We only need quality members who have principles of struggle, believe in the issues that are increasingly burdensome to the people nowadays, especially in terms of basic infrastructure needs, roads, water, electricity, and the increasingly pressing economic situation. The people will be with us in Umno/BN’s struggle to bring about change for the better,” he said.

Also present at the event were Sabah Umno deputy chief Datuk Seri Panglima Abdul Rahman Dahlan, Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Paduka Mohd Rafi Alli Hasaan, Datuk Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin, Sabah Umno secretary Datuk Jafry Arifin, Sabah Umno treasurer Datuk Seri Panglima Salleh Tun Said, Kota Belud Umno Division chief Azuwan Marjan, Kota Marudu Umno Division chief Ismarah Madcasar and Kudat Umno Division deputy chief Murtazah Amirdad.