Sabah Umno Pushes For Mou On Bn Harapan Pact

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Sabah Umno and BN must urgently sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Pakatan Harapan, as well as other Sabah parties that are interested, to cooperate in the upcoming state election.
Sabah Umno information chief Suhaimi Nasir said the MOU is important to prevent a repeat of past instances where party leaders defected.
The MOU will also take into account existing gaps in the anti-hopping legislation that was introduced into federal law in 2022, and adopted in Sabah in the following year.
“It’s a must. If possible, it should be a stamped (legal) agreement. That’s because there are too many games (in Sabah politics), and it's highly dynamic. That’s the problem - the anti-party-hopping law has loopholes.
“For example, we may cooperate as BN-Harapan, but within Harapan, there are several parties, and the same goes for BN.
“If any of them jump ship to support the other side, we lose the majority. Moreover, this is not an impossible scenario,” he said.
Sabah Umno info chief Suhaimi NasirSuhaimi pointed out that the anti-hopping law doesn’t cover BN and Harapan as coalitions.
“Candidates contest under the coalition ticket, but not under the Umno ticket directly… We contest under the BN ticket.
“We are individual parties. So, it’s unclear how this will apply.
“But party-hopping can still happen,” he said, citing the cases of Batu Sapi MP Khairul Firdaus Akbar Khan, Papar MP Armizan Ali, and Sipitang MP Matbali Musah.
Suhaimi said this during a media engagement session in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.
Expanding on the matter, Suhaimi said that to avoid similar incidents, Sabah Umno is proposing and taking a firm stance on the MOU.
ADSBackstabbed multiple times
Recalling the moments when Sabah Umno was previously betrayed, Suhaimi said the party had always been trusting - sometimes too much - and was stabbed in the back.
“Umno has always been good. It’s been too trusting of other parties, but at the same time, we’ve been stabbed in the back several times in Sabah - especially BN - back in 1986, 1994, again in 2018, and even in 2020 by Gagasan Rakyat Sabah.
“In 2020, who should have led the government? Who had the most seats? We did. But we became the ‘second man’. Even after the government was formed and positions were appointed, we were still the second choice because the power lay with them, Perikatan Nasional, at the federal level.
“So when things like this happen, we hope that for the 17th state election, there will be genuine understanding among the coalition parties. Otherwise, even we are hesitant and fearful,” he said.
“It’s better to walk with an enemy in front of you, than to walk alongside someone who turns out to be the enemy within. That’s what we fear, because we’ve been betrayed too many times,” he added.
Malaysiakini understands that a meeting was held between senior Sabah Umno leaders to discuss state election-related matters, and the outcome was to be brought to the Umno supreme council meeting last night for a decision.
However, the outcome of the matter remains unclear.
‘Sabah wasn’t discussed’
Umno supreme council member Saarani Mohamad, when approached by the media, said the issue of BN-Harapan cooperation in Sabah was not discussed last night.
“There was no discussion (on BN-Harapan cooperation in Sabah), it was just a regular meeting,” said the Perak menteri besar after the meeting at Menara Dato Onn, Kuala Lumpur.
Perak MB Saarani MohamadAnother Umno supreme council member, Sharkar Shamsudin, said there was no need to reopen discussions on BN-Harapan cooperation in Sabah.
“We have already been working with Harapan - it doesn’t make sense to work together at the federal level but not in Sabah.
“That’s the spirit - we’ve been working with Harapan in every election. For the state election, we’ll also work together. For the Sabah state election, we must cooperate.
“There’s no issue that needs re-discussion. We remain in cooperation. It’s our spirit to work together, and we will continue to do so in Sabah,” he said. - Mkini

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