FORMER prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has claimed that Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had every intention to name Datuk Hajiji Noor as Sabah chief minister all along.
Yesterday (Feb 3), Muhyiddin had refuted accusations that Bersatu, through the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition, had snagged the Sabah chief minister position from Barisan Nasional (BN), which is led by UMNO.
Muhyiddin had also claimed that he had asked UMNO president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to name the chief minister candidate from UMNO but a name was not submitted until the end of the campaign period for the Sabah state polls.
He alleged that it was due to that reason that he had named Hajiji (as Sabah chief minister candidate) in the event that PN won the most number of seats in the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) coalition.
GRS comprises BN, PN and Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS); while BN comprises UMNO, MCA, MIC and Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS), PN is made up of Bersatu, PAS, Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR), Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) and Gerakan.
“But the internet does not forget. He (Muhyiddin) said that Hajiji would be Sabah chief minister on Sept 12, 2020 on nomination day, which is the start of Sabah’s campaign period,” he said in a Facebook post, where he had also attached several screenshots of news articles to back up his claim.
“So how can you say you waited until the campaign period ended when you had already intended to name Hajiji as the next Sabah chief minister?
“He (Muhyiddin) had planned this much earlier and not at the end of the campaign period as he had claimed in his statement.”
In his statement yesterday Muhyiddin also claimed that despite accusations, he did not betray anyone and that he was transparent and upfront with UMNO.
He said that in the end, PN won 17 seats, BN won 14 and PBS, seven, adding that Bersatu did not contest against UMNO in any seats during the Sabah state polls.
Commenting on the matter, Najib alleged that the seats won by Bersatu were UMNO’s traditional seats and that most candidates were “political frogs” from UMNO.
“UMNO was told to hand over the seats to Bersatu. UMNO had won 14 seats and Bersatu, 11 but Bersatu got the chief ministerial post.
“There is no need to twist the facts – we know your intentions all along,” Najib retorted. – Feb 4, 2022
