THE naming of Salleh Said Keruak to take on the duties of Sabah Umno liaison chief is not what Sabah Star had signed up for when it offered its two state seats to Barisan Nasional after the 14th general election.

Sabah Star president Jeffrey Kitingan said the deal was to ensure that Umno will cease to exist in the state but Salleh’s appointment contradicted the agreement.

Under the initial arrangement with Sabah Star, Sabah Umno members are supposed to join PBS to form PBS Plus and sign an understanding with Jeffrey’s party to form a larger state coalition called Gabungan Bersatu Sabah.

He told The Malaysian Insight that former chief minister Musa Aman had agreed to the arrangement in return for Sabah Star aligning itself with Sabah BN to give the coalition the simple majority it needs in the election.

Sabah Star, which won Bingkor and Tambunan, was the kingmaker after GE14 ended with a hung assembly, with both BN and Warisan-PH obtaining 29 state seats each.

Umno acting president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced that Salleh was to take over the duties of the liaison chief and replace embattled former chief minister Musa Aman, who had gone missing from Sabah since May 14.

Jeffrey was met during the Double Six tragedy commemoration event by Gabungan Bersatu Sabah at the Double Six Memorial in Sembulan, Kota Kinabalu today.

Jeffrey said the Gabungan Bersatu Sabah alliance was aimed to form a united and bigger opposition in the state along with Progressive Party, Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah and Parti Perpaduan Rakyat Sabah.

The deal also called for other BN component parties to leave the former ruling coalition and join Gabungan Bersatu Sabah.

BN component parties that have already left were Upko, the Liberal Democratic Party and Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah. While Upko has aligned itself with Warisan, the other two have not aligned itself with any coalition yet. – June 6, 2018.