THE five Umno assemblymen who back the leadership of Sabah chief minister Hajiji Noor want state party chief Bung Moktar Radin to quit immediately from his position.

In a joint statement they said they were against any move to destablise the state government and tarnish Umno’s name in the state.

“We are shocked by the actions of several parties, particularly the chairperson of the Sabah Umno liaison committee who is working to topple the legitimate government of Sabah.

“We strongly condemn this act and demand that he resign from his position as Sabah Umno liaison committee chairperson immediately for tarnishing the party’s good name,” they said in the statement

The five assemblymen are Shahelmey Yahya the assemblyman for Tanjung Keramat, Jasni Daya (Pantai Dalit), James Ratib (Sugut), Yusof Yacob (Sindumin) and Arsad Bistari (Tempasuk).

The five said they stood firm in the belief that this was not the time to grab power in the state and the focus should be to develop the state economy and improve the livelihood of Sabahans.

“We hope and pray that this political crisis will soon be over so that efforts can be taken to develop our economy during these challenging times,” they said.

In withdrawing support, Sabah Umno chief Bung Moktar Radin last night said that Hajiji was no longer qualified to hold the post of chief minister under article 6(3) and 6(7) of the Sabah constitution.

“According to the Sabah constitution, the chief minister must be chosen from a party holding the majority. He (Hajiji) is without a party, he is with GRS, which is a coalition party,” he told the media.

The Sabah assembly has 79 lawmakers, 73 of them elected and six appointed.

With BN’s withdrawal of support, the Sabah government led by Hajiji now only has the backing of 41 assemblymen, 29 of them in GRS, seven in Pakatan Harapan, three in Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat, one in Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah and an Independent.

Warisan has 19 seats and PAS, one. –  January 7, 2023.