Sabah Umno chief Bung Moktar Radin has dismissed a Parti Bersatu Sabah leader’s challenge for the state chapter to go solo in the upcoming 17th state election.
Bung said the party would not be hasty in using its autonomy to determine its strategy for the state election, particularly on whether to go on its own or work with other parties.
He said Sabah Barisan Nasional and Umno would use their autonomy to decide on election alliances in a mature manner, taking into account the “meaning of unity” at both the federal and state levels.
“We will not be hasty and announce something without a strategy. And we will not be swayed by the ‘panicky swings’ of our rivals, who are friendly one moment and on the offensive the next,” he told FMT.
Bung, a former deputy chief minister, said Umno and BN did not need the advice of PBS vice-president Arthur Sen, whom he accused of undermining Sabah Umno’s autonomy.
“We know when to act, who to work with, and when we should stand on our own,” he said.
Arthur had challenged Sabah Umno to exercise its autonomy by officially declaring that it would go solo in the state election, after Pakatan Harapan and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah announced a pact.
BN chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had said the party had “locked in” its cooperation with PH, but Bung insisted yesterday that Sabah Umno would not work with GRS.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, the PH chairman, meanwhile, still hopes that all three coalitions can reach an understanding for the state polls.
