Let Umno have Tulid seat Sabri
KENINGAU: Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, a member of the Umno supreme council, has expressed his support for Datuk Abdul Ghani Mohd Yassin, the Pensiangan Umno chief, to contest the new state seat, Tulid, in the Pensiangan parliamentary constituency in the coming general election.
“Personally, I am in favour for Umno to be given the new state seat (Tulid), and, of course, I will support Ghani’s candidacy if he is given the opportunity to contest in the coming general election,” Sabri said, when declaring open the joint Umno Keningau, Tenom and Pensiangan delegates meeting held at the community hall here yesterday.
However, Sabri acknowledged that the decision on the candidate and the party to contest the seat in the election comes from the State Umno liaison chairman and Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Panglima Musa Haji Aman, and Umno president and Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak.
Earlier, in his speech at the event, Ghani said, the decision for Umno to contest the state seat, N44 Tulid, was made at the Umno Pensiangan annual delegates meeting held on September 17.
Ghani said, as the people’s representative is the symbol of strength of the party representing the area, he appealed to the Umno leadership for the party to be given the Tulid seat in the next election.
Rubin, the Kemabong assemblyman, in his speech, also supported the call for Umno to be given the chance to contest the new state seat, Tulid, and proposed Ghani to be its candidate.
He said this is in view that Pensiangan is among the areas that are not represented by Umno and it would be appropriate for the Tulid seat to be given to Umno.
Sairin, the assistant Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry, in his speech also supported the call for Tulid to be given to Umno and contested by Ghani in the coming election.
The Pensiangan parliamentary constituency is currently represented by the Minister in the Prime Minister and Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS) president, Tan Sri Joseph Kurup, PBRS Datuk Ellron Alfred Angin, assistant Minister to the Chief Minister and Sook assemblyman and Upko Datuk Bobbey Suan Ahfang, assistant Minister of Infrastructure Development and Nabawan assemblyman.
The N44 Tulid state seat in the Pensiangan parliamentary constituency is among the 13 new state constituencies in the new delineation exercise.
Meanwhile, Ismail Sabri advised Umno members in the state, especially in Keningau, Tenom and Pensiangan, to remain strong and not to be easily swayed by the opposition.
“I hope Umno members in Sabah, especially the interior Keningau, Tenom and Pensiangan, will continue to defend and fully support the leadership of the Umno president.
“We need to maintain the principle of loyalty to the party that has become the party’s practice in order for Umno to continue to be strong as only Umno is truly championing the Malays and Bumiputeras in the country and the state,” he said.
Ismail Sabri said he is confident that Sabah Umno will continue to be strong under the leadership of State Umno liaison chairman and heads of party divisions.
“I see in Sabah there is no issue and I hope that the leaders at the divisional level will not be influenced by the newly set up Pribumi party.
Umno was established to fight for the fate of the Malays and Bumiputeras and we need to defend the party in order to continue to achieve great victory in the next election,” he said.
Ismail Sabri, who is also the Minister of Regional and Rural Development, also approved the creation of a KEMAS Training Centre in Keningau next year.
He said the presence of this centre can provide convenience to the local people here to undergo training compared to the peninsula with high costs. According to him, at present, KEMAS Training Centres are found in Perak and Terengganu.