SABAH Umno remains the largest in terms of party membership as the chapter takes stock of its present strength following the mass exodus last year, said the new state chief, Bung Moktar Radin.

Bung said only some 10% of the state chapter’s over half a million members had defected after Umno lost power in both the federal and state level in the last general election.

He maintained that Sabah Umno’s grassroots remain intact despite talk the party had been crippled by the exodus.  

“We are in the midst of cleaning the party’s membership list. As of today, we have completed 80% of the the membership list.

“As of January 15 this year, it has gone down to 564,664 members from 585,305 members.

“I think we will be able to complete the screening in a week’s time,” said Bung, adding that the number was proof enough to show that Sabah Umno was still intact and therefore, still relevant.

Bung said this at a press conference after holding brief meetings with the state party’s Youth, Wanita and Puteri movements in Kota Kinabalu today.

As the party has yet to obtain the exact numbers, Bung said there are three Youth, seven Puteri, and four Wanita divisions that will convene special annual general meetings to elect new division leaders.

“We expect to resolve this earliest by next week and hopefully, the party will be back on track by next week,”he said.

The Umno secretary and deputy president will come over to Sabah to see Sabah Umno’s the progress in getting its autonomy, and to officially announce its autonomy.

“Sabah Umno getting its autonomy means the party now makes its own decisions, including on leaders, election candidates, and finances.

“The official announcement of the autonomy will be done when the deputy president visits Sabah.

“Umno will also amend its constitution during the upcoming Umno extraordinary general meeting to give autonomy to Sabah Umno,” he said.

Bung also said that Sabah Umno remained open to former leaders if they had a change of mind after leaving the party.

“I believe some of them want to return to Sabah Umno as they may have felt cheated over plans to join Bersatu, which have indicated they will not open in Sabah.

“There are also those who are too embarrassed to admit they have made the wrong move but are too shy to return to the party,” he said.

However, he said that they cannot have their old party positions back but must serve the party as ordinary members, like former chief minister and Sibuga assemblyman Musa Aman.

Bung said Musa remains a Sabah Umno member even though he has been replaced by a new chief.

The veteran member of parliament also said Sabah Umno is not working with any other parties at the moment as the focus remains on strengthening the party.

“We will only consider talking to others when we are finally back on track,” said Bung, adding that Sabah Umno was not in talks with Gabungan Bersatu Sabah or PAS.

He said Sabah Umno was now a standalone party and was no longer with Barisan Nasional in the state.

When asked whether Sabah Umno could work with the ruling parties like Warisan, Bung did not dismiss it directly, and said “nothing is impossible”. – January 30, 2019.