FORMER Umno lawmaker Anifah Aman said his recent meeting with Anwar Ibrahim was just to congratulate him on his return to Parliament and never touched on political alliances.

The Kimanis MP, now an independent, denied rumours that the meeting at Anwar’s office in Petaling Jaya yesterday was aimed at usurping power from the Parti Warisan Sabah-led state government.

Anifah was addressing speculation about a photo of himself and Anwar, together with five other senior politicians, which went viral in Sabah today.

The photo triggered talk that the newly-formed coalition of state opposition parties, Gabungan Bersatu Sabah (GBS), has plans to form an alliance with Anwar, who is expected to be the next prime minister after Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The other four leaders in the photo are Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku president Jeffery Kitingan, Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) acting-president Maximus Ongkili, Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS) deputy president Arthur Kurup and Sabah Umno leader Zakariah Edris.

“We just went to see and congratulate him. We had a bit of discussion, but nothing political.

“Our talks were limited to only the IMM13 refugees problem in Sabah and the Malaysia Agreement 1963,” he told The Malaysian Insight, referring to the special pass for Filipino refugees in the state.

Anifah, who was former foreign affairs minister, left Umno last month, saying the former ruling Malay party had failed to uphold the Malaysia Agreement.

At a recent forum, he talked of building a “Rumah Baru” and hinted at cooperating with GBS.

GBS does not include the Sabah Umno chapter, which wants to join the new coalition but cannot do so at present due to a party constitutional barrier.

Rumours are that GBS is expected to either align itself with Pakatan Harapan or is waiting for a split in the national coalition to see if it should align aligned itself with Dr Mahathir Mohamad or Anwar Ibrahim, in the event a power struggle occurs at federal level.

This is seen with several Sabah Umno members seeing leaving the party, including Sukau assemblyman Saddi Abdul Rahman, who is now an independent. – October 19, 2018.