FORMER Sabah Umno liaision chief Hajiji Mohd Noor today says Bersatu will indeed set foot in the state, after previous assurances that the party will not form a Sabah chapter. 

The Sulaman assemblyman, who led an exodus of five state reps and MPs from the state Umno chapter in December last year, said he was in talks with Bersatu’s leaders on the matter.

“I can tell you that Bersatu will come to Sabah,” he said. 

On when, Hajiji said: “I can assure you that it is very soon.” 

Hajiji, now an independent assemblymen, said this when met at opposition party Parti Bersatu Sabah’s Chinese New Year open house at the Hakka Association Hall today.  

Hajiji led the exodus of five Sabah reps and six MPs from Sabah Umno on December 12 last year. A few days later, Bersatu chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad had said the party would not open a Sabah chapter but that it was “open to those who want to join the party”.

Since then, all except one – Tampasuk rep Musbah Jamli, who joined Parti Warisan Sabah – remain independent. 

Hajiji, who described Musbah’s move as unethical, said the independent reps were now taking time off from politics, adding they would likely join a new platform in a month. 

Hajiji said that if they were unable to join Bersatu, they were free to join any other party. 

He also did not dismiss the possibility of them joining PKR, but asserted that joining Warisan was not likely. – February 6, 2019.