Umno getting too close to PAS, becoming racist, say Sabah defectors

Jason Santos Jason Santos Updated 5 years ago · Published on 13 Dec 2018 7:00AM · 7 Comments

The anti-ICERD rally over last weekend was notable for the show of strength by Umno and PAS members, which allegedly upset many Sabah Umno members. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Kamal Ariffin, December 13, 2018.

THE fear of Umno becoming too Islamic-centric and getting closer to PAS were the main reasons for the exodus of its Sabah members, sources said.

They said former Sabah Umno liaision chief Hajiji Mohd Noor, who led the exodus, was referring to the growing friendship between Umno and PAS when he said the Umno leadership lacked political direction. 

Hajiji said this yesterday when he announced that nine assemblymen, four MPs, two senators, two Umno Supreme Council members, 21 division heads, Sabah Wanita, Sabah Puteri, as well as 12 Youth divisions were leaving the party.

They brought along with them more than 50% of the 500,000 registered Sabah Umno members. 

They were also spooked when at the recent anti-ICERD rally in Kuala Lumpur, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi declared that Umno and PAS could work together.

Zahid said the Umno and PAS cooperation would hinge on Islamic issues. This was after PAS and Umno members gathered for the anti-ICERD rally.

“We will work together on other issues, too. This is not just a political cooperation, but a cooperation based on faith.

“I want Umno and PAS to work together after this,” the Umno president said.

These recent developments also upset Sabah Umno’s 100,000 non-Muslim members, the source said.

“They complained that Umno was becoming too Islamists and racist,” the source added.

“A majority of the members here are not Malays. So does that mean we are second-class Umno members?”

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (left) and PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang at a unity gathering in Pasir Salak last month. Umno under Zahid's leadership is moving closer to the Islamist party. – The Malaysian Insight file pic, December 13, 2018.

Others who left said at an Umno retreat after the May 9 elections, the leaders drew up guidelines on the new direction the party will take, but nothing came of it.

“Nothing was implemented. It was all talk,” said another source.

The source added that they were also upset that despite repeated calls to Zahid and the Supreme Council for autonomy, these were ignored.

“The Supreme Council was simply opposed to the request of giving more autonomy to the state party,” he said.

This simply meant Sabah Umno could not make decision for its own members, always having to rely on party leaders in the peninsula.

“They did not heed the growing calls of ‘Sabah for Sabahans’ and this is the outcome.”

Last night, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad confirmed that he met the Sabah Umno leaders last week prior to their departure from the party. 

“Yes, they met me. They came to tell me they want to leave Umno,” the prime minister said at the launch of Proton-Geely’s first sports utility vehicle (SUV) X70.

The former Barisan Nasional members remain independent lawmakers and any decision to accept them would be made later, he said. – December 13, 2018.

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Comments

  • Hadi Awang is a political leper.
    Cooperation with him ,is deadly.
    Leprosy is contagious.
    UMNO will be a leper soon.
    The Sabah exodus is the symptom of the deadly disease.
    More will spread.

    Posted 5 years ago by SmartTraveler * · Reply

    • Perhaps very unfortunately for Malaysia. We need a strong opposition. Who is going to play this role? We could be headed for another quasi-one-party state, i.e. BN 2.0, under the same man who consolidated the first round of the quasi-one-party authoritarian state... I don't see this as necessarily good news. However, we can hope that, even if UMNO-BN collapse completely, perhaps over time PH will split up into different (and hopefully progressive) coalitions. Malaysia is at a crossroads.

      Posted 5 years ago by Anak Kampung · Reply

    • The fact of the case is that...to be a meaningful and productive opposition, the first thing one needs is credibility. Perhaps they should get that back first.

      Posted 5 years ago by Ebrahim Mohideen · Reply

  • ....you mean last decades not racist meh...PH will become next BN2.0...for sure...same monkeys looking after the banana plantation...

    Posted 5 years ago by KC Yip · Reply

  • UMNO has been racist for decades, this seems just to be an excuse. A more plausible reason could be that UMNO Sabah are the beneficiaries of Projek IC carried out under Tun Dr Mahathir and so their allegiance is to the man rather than the party. If so, we could be headed for very interesting times in Sabah once the PM changes... (and even now);

    Posted 5 years ago by Anak Kampung · Reply

    • If the above hypothesis is true, the Sabah UMNO reps will end up joining another racist party: BERSATU. Let's wait and see what happens.

      Posted 5 years ago by Anak Kampung · Reply